


Million Reasons

by abigailwarren74



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Bad Ass, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-10-06 02:49:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10323887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abigailwarren74/pseuds/abigailwarren74
Summary: Foxxay AU. Miss Cordelia Goode is a resident Biology teacher in a boarding school just south of Greenwich, Connecticut. Misty is a senior, the captain of varsity hockey and the troublemaker of the school. She's smart and she thinks she can do whatever she wants. It is Cordelia's job as teacher in-charge to put Misty in her place. What will happen when Cordelia realises Misty is not all she seems?[This story is on indefinite hiatus, read notes attached to chapter 14]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: All chapters of this story are works of fiction and are not intended to be used as guides. No copyright infringement intended. All character credits belong to the talented team of writers behind this series. Suitable warnings may not be in place so please read at your own discretion. Thank you and happy reading!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those not familiar with boarding schools, faculty members do actually sleep in designated apartments on campus (either with their family or alone)!

Misty's father dropped her off at the roundabout in the lobby of the Ballard School. Sitting on roughly 256 acres of lush greenland, it boasted a full olympic sized pool, 8 squash courts, 2 ice hockey rinks and 6 tennis courts just to name a few. 

 

Sending Misty here was probably the best decision he had made since the girl's mother had passed away five years ago from cancer. Mr Day moved his family, which included his daughter and her cat, all the way across the state from the sweltering heat of Louisiana to the beautiful Connecticut which was much nearer to the new headquarters of his company in the financial district of New York City.

 

"I told ya' I could drive ma'self, Pa." Misty whined as her dad told her to get off quickly as he did not want to be trapped in the heavy jam to New York City.

 

"Just get off, will you?" Mr Day growled, frustrated.

 

Misty obliged and made her way into the white bricked building.

 

"Hi Misty!!" Zoe squealed as she approached the tall blonde.

 

"Heya, Zo!" Misty greeted before she yelled across the lobby as she looked at her famous friend lug a huge bag behind her, "And Maddie! Ya' bringin' ya' whole apartment down here or what?" 

 

Unlike Zoe and Misty who were day students, Madison Montgomery was a boarding student. Which meant, she could not go home for the term until fall break came around.

 

"Hey, airheads. Don't be too happy you guys are day students, I'm going to party my ass off when you guys are home sulking." Madison remarked sarcastically.

 

"Yea, right. Have fun at ya' study party while Zoe and I," Misty said and slung her arm onto her best friend, "are at Kyle's party"

 

"Kyle is hosting a house party?!!!!! You gotta be kidding me."

 

"That's right. Now, who's the airhead!" Zoe laughed as she picked up Madison's comforter to carry to her room.

 

The three girls walked off to the residential block, ready to start their senior year off with a bang.

 

###

 

Cordelia tapped at the steering wheel of her Audi impatiently as she waited for the line to clear so she could park her car in the teacher's lot.

 

It was only her third year teaching here and the headmaster had made her in-charge of the seniors this year, saying something along the lines of, "you're young and the girl's will be nearer your age! They will relate more." 

 

She called bullshit on that. Being barely 7 years older would probably enable the girls to climb atop her head within the first day or so. Especially with that gang of girls now. What was her name again? Right. Misty Day. The ringleader of their little squad. What kind of a stupid name was that anyway? And the boys, oh, don't get her started on the boys. Kyle? That dude has serious blue eyes that only spell trouble when together with his army of doe-eyed hockey boys. 

 

Day students made up less than 10% of the entire school population but yet, they still managed to get themselves knee deep into shit the rest of the 90% boarding couldn't. Why was it always the day kids that were causing trouble?  _ Right. _ Because unlike her and the rest of the students and faculty, they could go home at the end of the day. 

 

Swerving into a spot at the lot, she couldn't help but sigh internally at what was to come for the next three months while she was stuck with a bunch of crazy hormonal teenagers.

 

Why did she even sign up for this? 

 

Why. Why. Why. 

 

Cordelia scratched her head, trying to get some sense into her head. Maybe she should just drive away now. Go home, get away from all this.

 

_ Knock. _

 

Cordelia looked out to the passenger window and there Mr Whitley was. There goes her chance of escaping.

 

She berated herself for her life choices and grudgingly made her way to her tiny apartment located at the far end of the seniors girls residential hall.

 

###

 

Most of the other faculty were allocated apartments with more rooms as they were moving in with their entire family, including children and spouses. Since she was single, and ready to mingle might she add, the apartment she was allocated was the smallest, with just one master room and a smaller guest room. It had only one bath, but it came with a decent kitchen, in which Cordelia was grateful for.

 

Since this was the senior girls residential hall, also known as the Lanchester house, the girls did not have to have a roommate, so most rooms, were single bedded dorms which stretched across the three floors, with about 15 rooms in each.

 

Her apartment was located right at the end of the corridor as per usual, on the third floor. It therefore meant that she would be the acting residential faculty mentor for the girls on this floor as well.

 

Which meant…

 

She would be in-charge of Madison Montgomery… whose arrival was made with the loud chattering of their "squad".

 

"Girls! Please! It's the first day of school, keep your volume down!" Cordelia shouted, hoping to be heard.

 

"Great. I got you as my house mentor?" Madison retorted, looking for the piece of paper that had her room number on.

 

"And hey, looks like I hit the jackpot, Miss Goode, my room is right next to your dainty little apartment! School is just so fucking great right now." She spat again, rolling her eyes as she kicked the door to her room open.

 

Zoe shot Cordelia an apologetic smile. She knew her friends could be handfuls sometimes, but nonetheless, Miss Goode was her teacher. She ought to show some respect.

 

The door slammed and Cordelia jumped at the loud sound, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to put together what had just happened.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by laughter coming out of the room next door but thanked heaven nonetheless that at least one of them from their little gang was under her supervision 24/7 and that the other one was slightly apologetic for their behavior.

  
_ Now, about that Misty Day… _


	2. Chapter 2

Misty and Madison sauntered into general assembly late, halting the headmaster on stage who was addressing rules and other administrative matters.

 

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, these two are perfect examples of how you shouldn't be acting. Ladies, please see Miss Goode and I after this."

 

Misty mouthed a "whatever" before heading to the back of the auditorium with Madison where Zoe was seated.

 

"Hey where were you guys! You're 30 minutes late!" Zoe whispered as her friends took their places on the left side of her seat.

 

"Nah, we were just hangin' out back" Misty replied as she put her feet up on the cushioned seat in front, sliding her back down the chair.

 

Soon enough, general assembly came to an end. Misty, Zoe and Madison stood up to leave but Cordelia was all too quickly standing in front of them. 

 

"Where do you think you are going?" Cordelia questioned, furrowing her eyebrows together.

 

"Back to class?" Misty smiled sweetly.

 

Cordelia mildly fell in love with that deep raspy voice that didn't quite match the wild blonde's looks.

 

"Zoe, you may go. I just need these two over here." the headmaster said as he walked over to where they had gathered at the side.

 

Zoe exited quietly, leaving the four to talk.

 

Cordelia scanned the wild blonde. Her face was almost free of makeup except for the distinct dark eyeliner. Her messy curls fell wildly around her face, framing it. She had on a pair of ripped shorts with a dark blue yankee's button up jersey half tucked-in.

 

"Now, Misty Day and Madison Montgomery, you know our school does not tolerate such behavior." Mr Whitley sighed, taking his glasses off.

 

"Yea, and what Sir? Ya' can't stop me. I am simply too precious for you to expel." Misty pointedly. It was true. Misty Day never failed to make it onto the Dean's list every year since she was sent here in 9th Grade. Other than that, she was the star player in ice-hockey, never failing to make the school champions at each season. 

 

"I am afraid I will have to call Mr Day, don't I?" the balding man tried again.

 

"Call him? Call him if you want," Misty rolled her eyes. She knew her father was never going to pick up that call. Even if he did, he wouldn't be home. Since Misty was turning 18 soon, her father left her alone at home more often than not. Worst case scenario, she would be at the receiving end of a very angry man's wrath. But really, at least when that happened, there was a jolly good reason to be beaten. Unlike those other times he just slapped her when he was too wasted, or that time he chased her around the house, leather belt in hand as he cracked it when they turned each corner.

 

Misty shook that thought away. Right now, she was tough Misty and these teachers better know not to mess with her. 

 

"Madison, let's go," she said as she linked arms with Madison, pulling her towards the exit.

 

"Misty!" the teacher said, hoping to stop the younger blonde, "Mr. Whitley, we can't let them off like that!"

 

"Miss Goode, I'm afraid the girls are a lost cause," he said shaking his head, "as long as they don't cause trouble outside of school, we just have to let them off with a call to their parents."

 

"What… I am not going to let them get away with this!" the teacher said in a fit.

 

"I… Miss Goode… I understand your commitment but these girls… especially Misty… I guess just do what you can Miss Goode. Whatever you decide to do, the school will support you fully. Just… thank you, and don't let her break you."

 

"I won't," the blonde said firmly, "I won't let her break me."

 

###

 

The rest of the school day went by without Cordelia bumping into all three girls. She however knew that Misty and Zoe would be in her AP Biology class the next day. Oh, how she looked forward to that.

 

All of them retreated into Madison's room to help her unpack after school.

 

"Oh ma' lord, is this underwear?" Misty held up a thong, inspecting it from all sides.

 

"It's called a thong, swampy"

 

"How does it cover ya' lady parts?" Misty asked, eyes wide.

 

"It doesn't."

 

"Then why do ya' have it?" 

 

Madison shrugged while Zoe laughed her head off as the tall blonde put the skimpy piece of lingerie over her head.

 

"Day! Get that off your fucking head"

 

She was only greeted by a deep roaring laughter while she was snatching it off the other blonde's head.

 

###

 

After a meeting, Cordelia had lingered around to consult to Myrtle, a fellow teacher who had taught Misty last year. 

 

"Oh, little bird, I'm afraid you won't be able to help this kid..."

 

"Why is everyone giving up on her?" Cordelia asked, confused.

 

"Oh my, you do know she once snuck back into school and set the fire alarm off in the wee hours, don't you? And that she brought her cat to school, letting it feed on all the rats that were out defrosting for the Honors Biology class. Let's not mention the multiple times she played truant to classes."

 

"Oh… I know. That rat thing last time, it was my honors class." the blonde said, shaking her head.

 

"Sigh, dear… I know you mean well but..."

 

"But Myrtle, if I don't reach out to her, who will? This might just be the last time she can turn that attitude around." 

 

"You're right, Delia. You should go for it. You have the passion and the tenacity for it."

 

"But what if I can't?”

 

“You are capable of saving her, my dear. Don't ever doubt yourself."

 

### 

 

Cordelia did her night room checks, starting from the room on the far end of the corridor. 

 

“Good night, Janet.”

 

“Night, Darcy”

 

“Sweet dreams, Katie”

 

“Poppy, put that phone away and go to sleep soon okay?”

 

…

 

She opened Madison’s door, expecting to see Madison using her phone but instead was greeted by the sight of the two other girls on the floor as well. 

 

“Girls? You should be home by now!”

 

“Oh chill out, will ya’? We've done it fo' four years now, Miss Uptight.” Misty mused, silently laughing at the frantic tone of the teacher's.

 

"Miss Day, that is no way to talk to your teacher."

 

"Yea, so? What yer' gonna' do about that?" She snorted.

 

"You will report to me everyday after school from now on!"

 

"Aw, that's the best ya' can do? Spend more time with me?" She taunted again, letting a laugh escape from her lips.

 

Cordelia was fuming right now, the tips of her ear have grown a deep shade of red as she pursed her lips together.

 

"You WILL NOT talk to me like this, Miss Day. You WILL NOT treat me like how you've treated your other teachers. You WILL report to me after school tomorrow at my office. IS that clear?" Cordelia boomed, startled by her own authoritative voice, which was basically her inner "Fiona".

 

Their gang grew quiet for a bit, Misty just looking at up at the woman standing before finally standing up, towering over the woman. For a moment, the teacher thought she was going to receive a punch from the lanky student but instead, heard the same deep raspy voice.

 

"Ya' bet I will" She said with a hint of sincerity, as if to reward the older blonde for being so persistant, before exiting the doors with Zoe following closely behind.

 

Cordelia stood there unmoving. Did she mean it? She would only find out tomorrow.

 

She moved over to the railings to watch the noisy wild blonde slide down the stairs, causing the other faculty who resided in this house to stop and watch her.

 

Myrtle looked up at Cordelia and caught her brown eyes before giving her a thumbs up sign, which earned a grin from the latter.

 

###

 

Biology class was the period before lunch and as everyone took their seats, Cordelia noticed that the wild blonde was nowhere to be seen. Again.

 

"Zoe, where's Misty Day?" Cordelia queried as placed her reading glasses on the wooden table, standing up to greet the class of 12. 

 

"I think she… I'm not sure, Miss Goode. I'm sorry."

 

"That's alright. Okay class, I see that most of you were in my honors biology class, if not Mr Smith’s. My teaching style is pretty much the same as Mr Smith’s so I am not going to waste time going through ground rules and all that. Flip open your books to page 23. Can someone tell me..." Cordelia started her class.

 

About half the class had gone by without any sign of the messy blonde. Cordelia was getting slightly worried. She knew the blonde skipped classes but this was different.

 

"Sorry guys, would you excuse me for a moment? Can you just read up page 34-35 first? I'll be back in a jiffy."

 

Cordelia walked to the doors and out into the empty hallway, glancing left and right.

 

"I was wonderin' how long it'd take ya' ta' come find me" the deep voice came from the floor.

 

The teacher turned around to be greeted by cerulean blue eyes that looked up at her.

 

"What are you doing out here and not in class!"

 

"Ya' bein' ya', I knew ya' would make a big fuss 'bout me bein' 10 minutes late so I just camped out here. Anyway, I was listenin' ta' ya' from out here."

 

"Oh really? Then what did I say just now?"

 

"Uhh..."

 

"Nevermind, I knew you weren't listening."

 

"Okay, psychic Goode." Misty slid her back up the wall and promptly entered the class and took her seat next to Zoe.

 

Cordelia shaked her head and pressed her thumbs to her temples. This girl was going to be the death of her.

 

###

 

The ring of the school bell signalled that school was off. Since school started yesterday on a Thursday, today was a Friday and all student looked forward to the first weekend since school reopened. 

 

The door to Cordelia's office banged loudly, causing the blonde to jump up, wondering what in hell had happened.

 

There stood the lanky girl, Misty Day.

 

Of course, Cordelia should've known. Who else would bang on the door like it was the end of earth other than the most dramatic person on earth, Misty Day.

 

"So, what did ya' want me here for?" The young blonde looked at her teacher, sliding down into the chair opposite her.

 

"I need to get to know you."

 

"What? This is stupid. Imma leave now." Misty said, picking up her bag.

 

"Misty Day, you sit your ass back down in that seat NOW."

 

Misty looked at the older blonde, staring hard at her. She could just leave now, honestly. Miss Goode wasn't any stronger than her. But she kinda liked Miss Goode so she's just gonna play along now. She sat back down.

 

"Good." Cordelia smiled, glad that the girl didn't put up a fight. 

 

Misty looked at her teacher for a bit. She never noticed yesterday but her teacher had porcelain white skin. She was wearing a decent low-neck shirt that showed off freckles that littered her upper chest.

 

They stared at each other awkwardly before Cordelia started again, "So… Tell me about your family?"

 

"Just ma' dad an' I an' Rhiannon." Misty said, looking less confident than before but the hard look on her face never left.

 

_ Oh… So she doesn't have a mother… _

 

"Rhiannon… Is she your sister?"

 

"Nah, she's ma' cat. But yea, sister, ya' can consider her that too."

 

Cordelia blushed furiously, having just mistaken her cat for her sister.

 

"Where did the accent come from? It sounds quite southern."

 

"It's from the bayou. In New Orleans. I lived there for a bit 'till... 'till we left 'bout four years ago."

 

"I see. You know I have to call your father about yesterday's general assembly incident right?" Cordelia said, reminding the student about the heist she tried to pull off.

 

"Yea, jus' call him."

 

"I'm surprised you don't seem to mind that one bit?" the teacher asked, shooting a confused glance over to the younger blonde.

 

"Yea.. I don't care," Misty lied nonchalantly. She was partially hoping Cordelia would forget about that but it seems like the teacher was nowhere close that.

 

"Is there something I should know?" Cordelia pressed on, setting her glasses down on the table as she does when she wanted to go into a serious conversation. Usually children would be scared of their parents. Even Madison was. Why did Misty seem so laid back about this issue? She stared hard into the cerulean blue eyes.

 

Misty looked away from the hard gaze, before saying, "If you're done, Imma head down ta' hockey prac now."

 

And without waiting for a reply, Misty left the office, swinging her jansport behind her.

  
Did Misty just avoid her question? There was definitely something she was hiding and Cordelia was not about to let that go.


	3. Chapter 3

Misty pulled on a sleek black one-shoulder gown that gripped her figure gracefully. 

 

As she stared into the mirror, she couldn't help but notice that her eyes have grown so much duller over the years. Before, they held the secrets of a thousand oceans within them but now, now they just held that secret of the man she called Dad. The man Misty couldn't recognise anymore. She leaned into the mirror and applied her signature black eyeliner before smudging the hottest red lipstick she could find in her extensive collection of makeup.

 

She got into her beloved Porsche 911, dropping by Zoe's house to pick her up.

 

It was the weekends and they were headed to Kyle's first house party of the school year. It was going to be lit.

 

"Ugh, there's school tomorrow. I can't stay long, Mist." the short brunette said as she stepped into the car.

 

"Yea. I get it, goody two shoes," Misty teased. The blonde didn't care whether she was going to be late or hungover for school but she would leave with Zoe anyway, since Zoe needed her to send her home.

 

When they arrived, the party was still not at full swing yet. Club music was playing loudly in the back and the house was a little smoky. The house was mostly packed but no one was dry humping yet.

 

"Hey, smokin' hot ladies, my pleasure to have you here," Kyle said as he kissed them each on the cheeks.

 

"Cut the crap, blonde boy. Why did'ya put the party on a school night?" Mist yelled over the music.

 

"You know how it is, Mist. School night parties are the funnest."

 

"Haha, very fun. Just 'cause ya' wanna see da' people awkward at school after weird sexual advances, don't ya'?"

 

"Pretty much," Kyle said as he gave a meek smile to Misty.

 

"Come on, Zo, let's hit the dance floor."

 

Misty grabbed Zoe by the arm and led her through the crowd as it parted to make way for them. The tall blonde started dancing in the middle of the dance floor with Zoe, holding her champagne in one hand as she flailed the other hand around, her blonde locks flying everywhere.

 

At first, some stopped to look at the gorgeous blonde and her cute little friend but as the DJ cranked up the music, everyone went back to doing their own business.

 

###

 

"Kay fine, let's go," the wild blonde said after Zoe bugged her to leave for about the millionth time.

 

Over the course of the party, she was proud to say she hadn't gotten herself drunk and wasted like those party before. Something in her gut was stopping her from doing so.

 

Misty waved goodbye to her friend as she exited the car. 

 

A few minutes later, she pulled her car up into her beautiful white suburban home. She admitted that it was a beautiful home to stay in but it was really too big for just the both of them.

 

The wild blonde noticed that the lights in the house were still on. Had her father miraculously come home finally? 

 

The minute she walked into the house, "Dad?"

 

_ WHAM! _ A fist connected her nose, causing her to fall back against one of the full length windows, her clutch flying off somewhere into their large living room. 

 

Her hand immediately flew up instinctively to feel her crooked nose which was bleeding heavily by now. Blue eyes flew up to meet the exact same shade of blue. Her father had indeed come home.

 

"Dad!" Misty yelled, tears welling up in her eyes. Her father had done it again.

 

"That was for disgracing me, young lady." A foot kicked her in the ribs

 

"What?" Misty yelped.

 

"Your teacher called yesterday night to tell me about your little stunt of truancy for your classes."

 

"Fuck." Cordelia had really stuck to her word about calling.

 

"And what are you wearing. Are you looking to be raped? Where have you been, out so late at night. If your mother was still alive, this certainly wouldn't be happening."

 

_ If Ma was still alive, and she found out ya' were treatin' me like that, she would've killed you single handedly.  _ Misty wanted to say, but instead settled with, "You don't get to bring Ma into this." and she stormed back into her room.

 

The door slammed shut behind her as her feet pattered against the hardwood floor into the marble ones of her bathroom which was connected to her room. Like before the party, she leaned over the sink closer to the mirror again.

 

_ It's not broken. Thank god. If God even existed that was. _

 

Her head was still pounding from the impact.

 

_ Well, this is as bad as a hangover. That fucking slut of a teacher.  _

 

Misty stumbled back to her white queen sized bed, biting her pillow as she let out a heart wrenching scream into the starless night. The tears burned her eyes as she rocked violently in a series of silent sobs, trying to calm herself down. It was a mixed emotion of fear, sadness and anger boiling down. If her Ma was still alive, this wouldn't be happening. They would still be in New Orleans where she could run into the swamps to seek solace. Here, she was a trapped bird in a cage, no where else except distasteful school and an abusive home. 

 

She missed her Ma. Ever since she died, everything changed.

 

She made a mental count of the many times her father had hit her. It seemed to have gotten more frequent. Previous years saw him attack her maybe twice a year. Now it was more likely twice a month. 

 

A soft Meow came from the side of her room and jumped on her bed, cuddling into the blonde whose makeup was running down her face now.

 

_ Tomorrow will be better _ , Misty told herself. 

 

Tomorrow will be better. 

 

###

 

Misty padded on an extra layer of foundation to hide the bruise that had formed overnight. Her torso was still sore from the kick last night. 

 

She paired her white hoodie with a pair of medium washed shorts and headed to school. 

 

The day went by without anyone suspecting there was a bruise beneath that ton of makeup, schoolmates even complimenting her new look and Misty internally praised herself for her outstanding job at covering that up.

 

After school, instead of heading to Cordelia's office, Misty headed to Madison's room with Zoe instead, not wanting to see the teacher at all. 

 

Zoe had her hands on Madison's phone that contained a secret love message from a lover boy before passing it to the taller blonde who held it up above her head, preventing Madison from getting it back. They were all giggles until the shorter blonde playfully jabbed the taller blonde's ribs. And even through the thick fabric of her hoodie, Misty felt a sharp pain course through her torso causing her to let out a yelp, throwing a hand over the mouth.

 

"Serves you right for taking my phone, bitch" Madison laughed triumphantly but then immediately stopped when she noticed that a jabbed would not have caused the other blonde to be in the great amount of pain that was portrayed on her face.

 

"He didn't..." Madison said again as she scooted to her friend who was now sitting down on the edge of the bed.

 

"That makeup… You don't even put that much makeup." Zoe noticed now.

 

Madison and Zoe knew. 

 

"Zoe, pass me my bag." the blonde said as she angled Misty to face her. She reached out from her bag and grabbed a makeup remover wipe before gently starting to wipe the mask Misty had painted for herself this morning.

 

Madison swiped once across, earning a loud hiss from the Cajun. She stared at the messy blonde hard before continuing, gentler this time.

 

Each swipe revealed more and more of the bruise until it was fully uncovered. Zoe clasped her hand over the mouth to stifle a gasp.

 

Madison was fuming. "When did that fucking bastard do this."

 

"Yesterday night… She called him..." The curly blonde's voice faltering and she felt her facade dropping.

 

Misty didn't even have to specify who "she" or "him" were. Her two good friends already pieced the both together. 

 

"I'd never thought Miss Goode would make that call..." Zoe said.

 

"Fuck that bitch of a teacher," Madison retorted, but softened when she realised her friend was reduced to a bunch a tears.

 

Misty didn't even know why she was crying. Nothing hurt. But she felt the tears welling up and rolling down her face anyway as her two friends joined her on the bed, whispering sweet comforting words into her ears.

 

###

 

Cordelia was sitting in her office as usual, waiting for Miss Day to walk in dramatically as she did last friday but that moment never came.

 

She decided that her student must have stood her up and decided she would just have to wait till the next day to catch her at class.

 

The young teacher had called Mr Day over the weekends to inform him about his daughter's troubling behavior, and to also ask if anything was going wrong at home but Mr Day seemed quite confident that nothing was going on at home and that it was just Misty acting up herself. He also assured her that Misty wouldn't do it again. But here she was, just the day after, getting away from Cordelia again.

 

Cordelia sighed as she made her way back to the Lanchester house, wishing that the other blonde would've just showed up. She figured the girl must be with her friends in Madison's room so she decided to give it one last try before calling it a day.

 

Instead of the usual giggling that resonated through the halls, Cordelia was greeted with an eerie silence. The closer she got to Madison's room, the more apparent it became that someone was crying.

 

Without knocking, Cordelia turned the doorknob and was greeted by the sight of Zoe and Madison hugging the tall girl who had tear tracks running down her face.

 

At the sight of Cordelia, the tall blonde sniffled, before turning away from her, eyes running dry.

 

"I heard someone crying and I thought i'd check. Is everything okay?"

 

"Does everything look okay to you? Miss fucking Goode." Madison snapped. Her best friend was in a mess and it was because of this woman. She moved forward to the edge of the bed.

 

"Don't talk to me like that, Miss Montgomery. Do you want me to call your parents too?"

 

"That's all you can do, huh? Call them for all I care. At least they won't beat-"

 

"Mads. Stop." Misty hiccuped and put her hand on her friend's back, halting her speech.

 

"What did you say?" Cordelia asked, "What beating? Zoe?"

 

"Miss Goode..." Zoe started but never went further than that. 

 

Now Cordelia had her eyes trained on the blonde that had her side faced towards her. She now noticed the blue black bruise that was around the Cajun’s nose. 

 

“What happened to your nose?”

 

"Just get out, lady. You've done enough." Madison said, crawling back to her best friend. 

 

“Zoe…” Cordelia tried to coax the brunette into talking.

 

“I'm sorry Miss Goode…” was said as she led the teacher out of the door. 

 

###

 

Cordelia stood outside the room dumbfounded. She needed to get this right. Did Misty get beat up? By whom? When? And how?

 

So many questions rang through Cordelia’s head. She needed to find out and the only way was through...

 

Awhile later, Zoe stepped out of the room only to be grabbed by the teacher and dragged into the latter's apartment.

 

"Miss Goode! What are you doing!" Zoe exclaimed as the teacher locked the door behind her.

 

"You're not leaving until you tell me what's going on. Now, just sit anywhere you'd like."

 

Zoe eyed her teacher, pouting, before giving up and sitting at one of the kitchen counter stools as Cordelia grabbed her water.

 

"Okay, speak." the blonde spoke, setting the glass of water down on the coaster.

 

Zoe shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She knew if she told Cordelia, she would be breaking her best friend's promise AND trust. But if Cordelia knew, maybe she could help? After all, Mr Day had gotten more violent over the years. She didn't want to lose her friend. 

 

The brunette opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the familiar loud banging.

 

Cordelia got up from her seat and opened the door to a very angry Misty, eyes still puffy and red from the crying.

 

"Zoe, go to Maddie's room. If Miss Goode wants to know somethin' she will talk to me." Misty said firmly, holding the door open for her friend.

 

Zoe scooted past the fuming blonde and left the two to talk.

 

"What is it that ya' want to know." Misty huffed, not moving from the door she held open.

 

"Well… I… Your face..." Cordelia stuttered now that she saw how bad the bruise was. It's colour spread throughout her entire nose bridge, spreading out under the eyes, making her look especially tired. 

 

"I got into a fight."

 

"WHAT?! WHEN?! This is unaccept-"

 

"Kyle's party last night," Misty replied cooly, "Now, ya' know what ya' wanna know. Don't ever mess with ma' friends, ya' got me?"

 

"I was not..." Cordelia defended, "I was trying to help."

 

"Ya' helped enough. Now just screw off an' stay outta' ma' life"

 

"But... what about what Madison was saying? She said you got beaten because I called your father?" Cordelia asked again, her mind still harping on that sentence the other blonde had failed to finish but Misty was already halfway across the hallway with Zoe, school bag and all in tow and the teacher could only watch as the blonde who held her answer walked away, never looking back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cordy's still tryna' get through to our beloved Misty!!! Heheh


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy reading!

Cordelia found herself sitting in her empty office for the next two days, wondering why she had troubled herself with this girl anyway. Misty had seeked for a transfer out of her AP Biology class.

 

When the notion was rejected by the headmaster, Misty just opted to not turn up for class anymore. 

 

The teacher wondered if she should call Misty's father again. But what Madison said… what she said really troubled her. She had tried her hands at Zoe and Madison but none of them were budging. She needed to speak to Misty again. 

 

###

 

"Misty, get out of my bed!" Madison screamed, throwing her pillow at the wild blonde. 

 

"NoooooOOOooo," Misty whined. It was late into the night and Zoe had long ago headed home but she didn't want to go home today, her father had texted her that he would be home today and there was no way in hell she would be hit for no reason again. Besides, her friend's bed was much more comfortable.

 

"Come on, Mist, you got to get hoOOoomme before Miss Uptight comes around for room checks," Madison tried again, pulling at her friend's hand.

 

"Fuck her. I can roll under ya' bed. She won't know."

 

The shorter blonde sighed, "Okay, fine. And hey, by the way, you know… Miss Uptight… She seems to really care about you… Maybe you should..."

 

"Wow, Maddie, so now yer're takin' that teacher's side?" Misty asked in disbelief.

 

"Misty… You can't blame her you know, I saw her face the other time, she didn't know. Besides, she keeps bugging me about the thing-"

 

"Did ya' say anythin'?" Misty cut her off.

 

"No… But as a friend, I'm worried, okay?" Madison said exasperatedly, "I promise this isn't like last time. Miss Goode really cares. I really think you should talk to her about it."

 

Misty looked at her friend for a minute and she wondered if Miss Goode really cared. 

 

###

 

Misty was trying to lighten her breathing under the bed. This was a bad idea. She had been hiding her for approximately 20 minutes and she was sure she was going to run out of oxygen sometime soon.

 

"I'm going to die, Mads," the muffled voice came from beneath the bed.

 

"May I remind you that this was your idea," Madison said, flipping the page of her magazine, "Anyway, she'll be here any minute now."

 

True to her words, the blonde teacher came by for the room check just a minute later, knocking softly on the door before opening it, leaning her head in.

 

"Hey, Madison, you should be sleeping soon, okay?" Cordelia said in a soft voice.

 

_ Cough. Cough. _

 

A labored breath came from somewhere in the room.

 

"Who was that?" was said as Cordelia opened the door wider to allow her body to step in.

 

"Just me. I  _ *cough _ * I'm not  _ *cough* _ feeling well." Madison said, trying pathetically to cover up for her beloved friend.

 

Misty held her breath as she heard footsteps approach. 

 

Cordelia walked towards Madison, putting her hand over the student's forehead.

 

"Okay, it's not the flu. Do you want some cough syrup?" Cordelia asked, taking a step back from the blonde.

 

As she waited for the blonde to answer,

 

_ Cough. _

 

Both their eyes went wide, the teacher staring intently at the student.

 

"Madison Montgomery." the teacher said firmly.

 

The student gave the teacher a meek smile, pointing below her bed, not saying anything.

 

Misty heard her name being called and for a moment, she wondered if by having her eyes screwed shut, it would stop the teacher from finding her. 

 

Fat hope.

 

Cordelia reached her hand underneath the bed to tug at the messy blonde's hand and finally came into eye contact with the ocean blue eyes she hadn't seen in about two days.

 

"Heyya," the blonde said, still lying down under the bed.

 

"Hi," the teacher smiled sarcastically.

 

Misty laid there for a moment more, before realising the teacher was not leaving. She wriggled out from underneath the bed.

 

"Misty, can I speak with you outside? Goodnight Madison," Cordelia said, exiting the room.

 

Misty looked to her friend for help but her friend simply gave her a shrug, mouthing, "talk to her" before going back to reading her magazine.

 

###

 

Misty joined her teacher outside in the hallway, closing the door behind her.

 

"Do you want to talk about you missing class?" Cordelia asked, looking at the Cajun.

 

"I..." Misty paused, "I should get going now." 

 

It was too late at night to be coming up with witty comebacks. Cordelia found this Misty weird and very unlike herself. 

 

"Is anything wrong? At home?" Cordelia prompted, hoping to at least have a proper conversation but her words fell upon deaf ears as the blonde once again walked away from her.

 

"You know, you can always talk to me." Cordelia tried again and this time, the blonde stopped walking for a moment, as if she was considering the offer but to the teacher's disappointment, she continued walking.

 

### 

 

Cordelia found herself unable to sleep, pacing around her room from corner to corner as she tried to figure that girl out. 

 

Misty Day, Misty Day.

What in the world was she trying to hide? 

 

Still dressed in her Columbia hoodie, she decided to do what she always does she she can't sleep, go for a walk around the school premises.

 

She brought along a flashlight to illuminate her path under the dark sky and set out for the school garden.

 

###

 

The weather was starting to get cold in Connecticut which was renowned for it's beautiful fall scenery. Cordelia tugged at her sleeves, pulling them down over her fingers. She had never been one to enjoy the cold temperatures. She'd much rather be in California where it was always summer but here she was anyway.

 

She pushed her hair over her head, settling down on a bench in the park, breathing in the cooling air that was fresh.

 

A rustle came from the bushes near by.

 

Her eyes darted around wildly in the darkness while she searched around blindly for the switch on her flashlight.

 

"Who's there?" she asked into the illuminated pathway.

 

There was no response.

 

Cordelia got to her feet and walked the length of the pavement, shining her flashlight in all directions, her heart racing. She gulped, unsure of who or what that was until the bright light landed on a sleeping silhouette. 

 

It soon became clear to the teacher that it was indeed a sleeping student who was covered in nothing but a thin jacket and jeans, lying on the hard floor behind a bush, her school bag as a pillow.

 

The student sneezed in her sleep and then shivered slightly.

 

It was only when she spotted the wild mess of a hair that she recognised it was Misty Day.

 

"Misty?" she whispered, approaching the tall student who nuzzled deeper into her foetal position.

 

"Misty!" she whispered again, this time kneeled down, shaking the broad shoulders gently to wake her up. Misty sat up, rubbing her eyes.

 

"What are you still doing here!"

 

Misty let out a large yawn, stretching her long arms over her head. She stopped mi-stretch when she realised it was Cordelia and her eyes went wide with fear. Fuck. How was she going to explain this.

 

"Uh... I… What are ya' doin' up so late?" she shot back.

 

"I couldn't sleep..." the teacher admitted.

 

"Well, me too then," Misty said, even though that made no sense at all since she was just sleeping.

 

Cordelia looked skeptically at Misty and pulled the freezing hands into her own.

 

"My god, you're so cold. Come on, you will feel better in my room," the older blonde offered, leading the young student back to the student hall.

 

###

 

Misty entered the modest 2 room apartment, and just stood at the door as Cordelia went about making her a hot drink.

 

"Don't be a wuss, please just sit somewhere," Cordelia said, busying herself with the hot chocolate.

 

Misty took a step towards the kitchen counter and pulled out the white stool from underneath, plonking herself and her bag down on it.

 

Cordelia set the mug on a coaster, urging Misty to drink it as she stood leaning against the side of the marble counters, head in a tilt.

 

"Do you want to tell me why you were sleeping at the student park and not home in your own bed?" the teacher started, her eyes on the student who took a sip from the Mickey Mouse mug. It was her favorite mug.

 

The student shook her head, taking another sip.

 

"Let me rephrase that. Tell me why you were sleeping at the student park and not home in your own bed, Miss Misty Day." Cordelia repeated again, firmer this time. She wasn't going to let it go. Not after so many missed chances.

 

"I didn't want to go home," Misty muttered, head low.

 

"And why is that?"

 

Misty thought about what Madison had said.

 

_ I promise this isn't like last time. Miss Goode really cares. I really think you should talk to her about it. _

 

It was a fine line between a caring teacher and a nosey teacher. 

 

"Misty, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Cordelia said, breaking Misty's train of thoughts as she dropped her head lower.

 

"Cause' I'm scared..." Misty confessed. There it was. 

 

"Scared? Why?" the teacher prompted, much gentler this time as she walked over to the stool next to Misty, putting her hands on the tall blonde's thighs.

 

"He beats me sometimes," Misty stated factually, screwing her eyes shut to stop the tears that were ready to fall.

 

"Your father?"

 

"Yea..." Misty sniffled.

 

Cordelia didn't know how to react to that. How was she supposed to? So she took the now crying girl in her arms and mustered the tightest hug she could give.

 

Misty cried her heart out. It felt so good to be in someone's arms again. Tears of anguish, relief and everything in between came out in wails and sobs that filled the room. 

 

"I'm sorry about your sweatshirt," Misty hiccupped, pointing to the large stain her tears had left on the woman's clothing. Cordelia put her hand on the tall blonde's cheek, her thumb sweeping just under the blue eyes, ridding them of any wet tears.

 

"It's fine, Misty. You should stay here tonight. I have a spare room, you can sleep there. We will have to talk about this tomorrow okay?"

  
Misty knew the conversation would be inevitable then, but right now, she felt good and she just wanted to fall asleep in a comfy bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How am I ever going to live in Minnesota. I need a cup of hot chocolate ASAP.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn! This is one very late update. Sorry guys! Happy reading!

Cordelia was still as a leaf the next morning, staring at the ceiling, her mind ring with the words of Misty's. 

 

Her eyebrows furrowed and creased with concentration when it suddenly struck her that Misty had gotten the last beating because of her. She grimaced at the thought of that bruised nose. She knew it hurt because she'd had a couple of them before. 

 

Her phone screen lit up, showcasing the time as she squinted to reach over to the slab of technology on her bedside table.

 

_ 7:16AM _

 

Sighing, she knew she had to get up soon but continued her staring contest with the ceiling, counting sheeps and what not to pass time, hoping Misty would wake up herself soon. 

 

Her skinny arms flailed around when she realised this was not working and decided that she was going to have to stop running away from her problems and wake up. Her two feet landed steadily on the ground, her dark eye circles apparent from the lack of sleep and she trudged to the guest room.

 

As she opened the door to the guest room, she wondered if she should wake Misty up now as breakfast was in 40 minutes for the boarding students but Misty wasn't a boarding student and class didn't start till 8.30 for them.

 

Taking a long look at the wild blonde, she decided Misty would want breakfast and went on to wake her, which proved to be a difficult task.

 

A small giggle escaped the teacher's curled mouth upon the sight of Misty's messy curls matted over her face in deep slumber.

 

"Misty, come on, you gotta wake up."

 

"No……….." a groan came.

 

"I won't take no for an answer!" the older blonde said before proceeding to tickle the not-so-young student who then immediately shot up in fits of laughter which subsided at the sight of Cordelia.

 

Her face grew into a slight frown at the recollection of last night's talk. It was so happening today.

 

"I have no time for scowls! Breakfast is in 20! Go get ready!" the teacher chirped, hoping to bring the spirit of the girl up but to no avail. Misty still stared slightly blankly at her, unknowing what to do or where to go.

 

When she saw that Misty had no intent to move whatsoever, she hauled the tall girl to the bathroom located in her room, closing the door behind her. 

 

Before a minute could pass, the girl had emerged from the toilet.

 

"What!" Cordelia shrieked, covering up herself. She was just in the midst of changing and her shirt still hung unbuttoned, her pants unzipped. 

 

"It's just uh, I don't have a toothbrush and I ain't 'bout ta' use yours, Miss." the girl said, unfazed by her teacher's lack of clothes. Misty was used to seeing  _ great bodies _ in the hockey locker room.  _ Wait, great bodies? _

 

"Oh, right, I've got an extra…. Somewhere..." Cordelia said, looking through her two duffel bags that she had brought along with her. There ought to be one  _ somewhere.... _

 

"Here!" she presented triumphantly to the tall blonde.

 

"What 'bout ma' clothes..."

 

"You can wear mine, my closet's right there and I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, okay?"

 

A silent nod and Cordelia closed the door with a thump behind her.

 

###

 

Misty never thought she'd find herself in such a peculiar situation. She was currently in the middle of her teacher's bedroom, stripped down to her bra and undies as she hummed "You don't own me" under her breath.

 

Her delicate fingers swept through the rows of clothing that hung neatly. There were formal blouses and trousers, a couple of jeans and shorts. Her hands landed on a pair of tomgirl shorts but she couldn't find a nice shirt there.

 

Suddenly overcome by a wave of boldness, she seized the unpacked duffle bag by the side and found another Columbia crewneck sweatshirt.

 

_ That will do. I hope she doesn't mind. _

 

Both pieces hung snugly to her figure but they were fortunately still wearable.

 

It smelt deathly of Cordelia's perfume. 

 

_ Ugh.  _ She stuck her tongue out.

 

She still didn't know how to feel about the teacher. Should she trust her? Last night she did but was that a mistake? How was she supposed to trust a teacher she just met when the person she trusted most broke it?

 

Shaking her head, she left the room in a sigh.

 

###

 

"I see you've gone through my personal collection of college sweaters?" Cordelia said as she scanned the student's chosen outfit.

 

"Yea… Ya' don't mind ya?" the blonde said cautiously, suddenly feeling slightly conscious about her outfit, she tugged down at the waistband of the sweater. 

 

"You look great, honestly, do you want to keep the sweater? I've got tons. Besides, it looks better on you," the teacher commented, looking back to her vanity mirror, putting on some more blush.

 

"Nah… I will wash ya' sweater an' return it when I can, but...."

 

The teacher paused, making eye contact with Misty through the mirror, waiting for the young blonde to throw her request. 

 

"Can ya' lend me some eyeliner, please? I left mine at home an' I ain't goin' out like that," Misty sighed a little, hoping the teacher wouldn't mind. She knew her eyes were still slightly red from crying herself to sleep last night and she was hoping to cover the weakness up. Her eyeliner was like an impenetrable mask.

 

"You look great Misty, with or without makeup." the teacher turned around, sensing that this was something more than just using her makeup. 

 

"Could say 'da same fo' ya' too, Miss," she joked slightly, causing the older woman to blush under her makeup.

 

"Take whatever you want, just not the lipstick, I mean, you can, if you use a brush and you don't mind that that has touched my lips where cheeseburgers and french fries have graced through," the teacher smiled.

 

"Thanks, Miss, I owe ya' one."

 

###

 

Misty groaned at the sight of Zoe and Madison outside in the hallway.

 

"Misty, what the fuck?"

 

"Madison, language, please and Misty, I'll see you later?" the teacher's voice came from behind Misty as she locked up her own door.

 

Misty nodded while Madison sneered slightly, looking at her tall blonde friend for an answer as to why she was exiting from the teacher's apartment even though the day before she was practically on the verge of tearing Cordelia's innards out.

 

"Over breakfast, and Zoe ya' came early t'day?" Misty said casually, stepping forward to allow Cordelia to pass them. 

 

"Yea. I dropped by your house in the morning but I saw that your dad was home so I thought you must be in school like last time so I came to find you," Zoe's gentle voice came through.

 

###

 

"Talk," Madison demanded as they lined up in the cafeteria to collect their breakfast.

 

"I told her," Misty stated.

 

"Told her what?" Zoe asked, holding out utensils for all three of them. Waffles were in order for breakfast today.

 

"WAFFLESSSS" Misty squealed.

 

"MISTY! Stop fooling around! What exactly did you tell her?!" Madison spoke harshly, yanking at her friend's hand.

 

"Fine! I told her about Pa, but not everything yet, she wants me to talk to her later, after hockey prac but I'm not sure..."

 

Zoe's face registered as a look of shock, while Madison smiled.

 

"You won't regret this, swampy," Madison convinced, "I may not like Miss Uptight but she's decent. She's who you want to talk to, Mist, and all of us know that you need to."

 

Zoe squeezed Misty's shoulder to show her support as they made their way to the usual seating table with Kyle.

 

###

 

It was slightly over 5pm now.

 

Misty knocked gently on the door to Cordelia's office, her hair wet from being out of the shower which she had used after her hockey practice. 

 

"Come in!" Cordelia's voice came through and the blonde student pushed opened the door to reveal Cordelia sitting at the opposite side of a table, glasses on and her hand wrapped around a red pen as she marked some worksheets. 

 

"Oh Misty!" She seemed pleasantly surprised, "I thought you weren't going to come, sit down!"

 

"Have ya' such little faith in me?" Misty sassed, accompanied with a dramatic eyeroll before she drags out the chair and plonks down on the cushy seat. She was in for a long one this time.

 

"Well, you skipping my biology class and meetings multiple times didn't really earn you points for trust or faith," Cordelia laughed before growing serious, "So… you want me to ask questions? Or do you want to just tell me?"

 

"That's choosing between bein' interrogated by ya' an' confessin' to ma' sins ma'self," Misty sighed dramatically, looking to the teacher, "besides where do ya' want me ta' start?"

 

"From the very top," Cordelia instructed, taking her glasses off.

 

"Huh. Should'a known ya' nosy thin'," Misty sneered playfully, "Kay, so one stormy night, my Ma was drunk and she met my Pa at a bar-" 

 

"I'm going to stop you there… Where is this going?"

 

"Imma' gonna start right from 'da top, from me in my Ma's womb," Misty snickered.

 

"For the love of God, Misty Day, that is TOO MUCH INFO, just start from wherever is relevant, please," Cordelia exclaimed.

 

"Kay, fine, fine." Misty replied, before starting to tell the story from back when she was in still in middle school.

 

She told Cordelia she could still remember how her Ma smelled. It was a sweet scent of sandalwood that lingered on slightly even after she walked away. She was Misty's best friend. So when she passed from cancer in the last year of her middle school, it was very hard for Misty, especially when her Pa told her they were moving to Connecticut and had to leave their grand two story house in New Orleans. Every memory with her mother was made there and it hurt to have to leave that behind. 

 

Misty explained to Cordelia that her Pa was a great man before Ma had passed on. It was family day everyday back then. The minute he set foot back home, he knew not to talk about anything relating to work and they always sat down for dinner. He started drinking when they first came to Connecticut which subsequently led to the beatings which had gotten worse, especially this year. She skipped the gory details but told Cordelia that the last summer, he broke her nose.

 

A flash of anger crossed Cordelia's face.

 

"And you never once thought to tell someone? Misty Day!"

 

Misty fiddled with the cuffs of her sweatshirt. 

 

"The teachers noticed, but they never asked. I guess it was too much of a burden… An' besides who wants ta' deal with the bad kid?"

 

"No, Misty, this is not a burden, besides, now I know the reason behind your lash out and I won't hold them against you anymore," Cordelia said as she leaned over the table to look at the blonde who was looking down.

 

"So… What now?" Misty asked, not looking up.

 

"Now we tell someone. The headmaster is a good place to-"

 

"WHAT?! NO!" the student shouted, before covering her mouth, shocked by the loud volume of her voice, "We can't tell anyone."

 

"Misty, you want to continue-"

 

"No it's not that..."

 

"Then help me understand?" Cordelia sighed exasperatedly. 

 

"I lost Ma already…" Misty said softly, sniffling, 

  
"I  _ can't _ lose Pa too..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be getting slightly busier this season. Real sorry 'bout the late updates!!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long overdue. Happy Reading!

“Misty… Oh, my dear…” realization hit the blonde teacher like a train coming at full speed. No wonder she was so unwilling to talk about it. 

 

Her swivel chair squeaked as she stood up, walking to her student who was shifting uncomfortably in the chair.

 

"What're ya' doin'-" the wild blonde said before getting engulfed in a deep tight hug, the scent of Cordelia's perfume stronger than ever. Her hands slowly found the back of the teacher's back and she found herself bending down slightly to bury her head into the nape of Cordelia's neck. 

 

"Thank you, Misty, thank you so much for opening up to me. I know how hard it is for someone to do that and I'm proud of you. I really am. So, thank you," the older woman said genuinely and Misty's heart swelled.

 

"But Misty, you know I can't let this go, right? We have to tell someone and I'm really, really sorry because this is what I have to do, you know that?" 

 

Misty nodded into her teacher's shoulders.

 

"Can we wait? At least one more month," Misty's muffled plea came through.

 

"Misty… He's going to hurt you..."

 

"Just one mo' month? Just give me one mo' month wit' him and then ya' can do whatever..." 

 

"Fine, two weeks, that's final, okay?"

 

"Ta' weeks."

 

###

 

"You're a bright girl, you know?" Cordelia praised, closing the Biology textbook.

 

She had spent the entire evening going through what Misty had missed when she skipped Biology class out of spite. The wild blonde did in fact learn pretty quickly.

 

"Told ya' I was smart," the Cajun gave a toothy smile.

 

Cordelia looked up into the cerulean blue eyes. They were the shade of new birthed bluebell flowers, not too sharp, not too dull. They were enchanting in their own way. When she looked into them, she felt herself sail off into the distant beach, it's curls of wave crashing, shimmering and churning against the blonde beach.

 

"Miss Goode, can I ask ya' something?" the wild blonde finally spoke after a beat.

 

"Shoot," the older blonde replied.

 

"Why were ya' not like ta' other teachers? Ya'know, I mean like why did ya' keep pressin' on?" the student asked.

 

"Oh… I… Well, it's kind of a long story, but I don't like to give up on students."

 

"I've got time, I want ta' hear it!" the wild blonde exclaimed, bouncing in her cushioned seat, her hair flying wildly.

 

"Ahhh… Maybe it's for another time?" the teacher said reluctantly, tapping on her watch, "It's kind of late now, why don't I send you home?"

 

The Cajun pouted. She really badly wanted to her what the teacher had to say but Cordelia was not budging, only continued looking at her with a plain expression. 

 

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" the teacher suddenly blurted.

 

"I was thinkin' 'bout that ta' but… I should get home tonight… Gotta try see ma' Pa when he's sober, y'know?" she said with a tinge of sadness.

 

"Need a lift home?"

 

"Nah, got ma' own cute little car," Misty smiled.

 

"You rich brat," the teacher threw her hand playfully at Misty.

 

"Ya' know who's da' real brat," Misty threw her head back and laughed.

 

###

 

Misty returned back to her now dark home, she sighed internally. It was an internal conflict. Did she want her father to be home or not…

 

Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she opened the large front door. 

 

A step, and then another.

 

Everything was silent except for the resounding slap that echoed into the empty house, Misty's head tilting at impact as her knees became weak and she fell onto the floor. She felt her cheek grow red, both from the slap and embarrassment. A dark figure emerged from the darkness, glass of hard liquor in hand. He was obviously drunk.

 

"Why are you home so late," a stench of his breath assaulted Misty's nose as he roughly grabbed her by the forearm, pulling her off the floor.

 

"I had a… project to do..." Misty lied, trying to stop her tears from falling.

 

"DON'T LIE TO ME," he boomed and the glass in his hands came crashing against Misty's head, glass shards flying everywhere. 

 

Misty whimpered at the impact, her hand moving up to feel her scalp that was probably bleeding heavily now. 

 

Her father stumbled off as quickly as he came, leaving the wild blonde alone in the open concept kitchen.

 

It hurt. It hurt real bad. This was unlike the previous times now. Misty was shocked her father went so far with this. There were no strings of expletives that came tumbling out. The room was thick with silence as she searched around for the abandoned phone.

 

"It's 12AM IN THE FUCKING MORNING THIS BETTER BE FUCKING GOOD." Madison's groggy voice came through.

 

Misty's line was silent except for the soft whimpering.

 

Madison's tone immediately changed, "Misty? Misty where are you? Are you okay? Misty? Misty are you hurt?"

 

"Yes..." a shaky breath replied, holding the phone closer to mouth, taking another heavy breath as she felt warm tears cut through her face. She felt the blood seeping beneath her hair, brain matter pounding against it's hard skull. 

 

Madison had already put on the pair of slacks she was wearing before and was in the hallway, shutting the door. 

 

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath as she wondered how in hell was she going to get to Misty's house in the middle of the night. There's no way… Except...

 

An incessant knocking on her door made Cordelia run to her door like a dog waiting on it's owner. The look on the student's face was one of panic and fear as her gaze drew down to the phone in her hand.

 

"Miss Goode, Misty is in trouble."

 

###

 

The Audi sped down at full speed into the dark suburban streets of Connecticut, coming to an abrupt halt when Madison yelled, "STOOOOP, IT'S HERE," just seconds before the past the length of the driveway.

 

The houses here were slightly different than the usual suburban houses. It's driveway was so long, Cordelia was almost sure that the mailbox was in a different zipcode from the actual house itself.

 

Madison ran out of the car before it even came to a halt, pounding against the door but when no one answered, she dug around for the pots at the front of the house for the spare keys.

 

After about a minute, her dirtied hands emerged victorious as she fumbled with the lock, allowing both the teacher and her to enter the lavish living area. 

 

"Misty! MISTY!!! Where the fuck are you?" the tiny blonde called out to her friend in a desperate voice, running to check the office area. Cordelia paced around the living area for a while before moving to the kitchen and suddenly, a hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed her on the ankle and she let out a deafening scream she didn't even know she was capable of.

 

Madison's feet came pattering on the wooden floor, following the echoes of her teacher's scream. Cordelia stood there rooted to the ground.

 

"Oh my god, Misty," Madison said, reaching out to the tall blonde who was hiding beneath the dining table. Through the darkness, she could only see her friend'’ silhouette under the moonlight. The tiny blonde slid down to her knees as she pulled the girl into the tightest hug she could offer, her hand pressing against the back of Misty's head.

 

She pulled away when she felt something sticky on the palm of her hands.

 

"What the..." Madison whispered before being blinded by Cordelia who had managed to find the switches to the lights.

 

Another scream escaped Cordelia's plump lips.

 

"Son of a bitch! You need to stop-" and Madison let out a scream too.

 

Misty's blonde weaves were matted with a red sticky substance, her lips were cracked and blood seeped out of them too.

 

The Cajun took one long look at her friend before her weakened body fell to the ground.

 

"Mist… Oh my…. GOD" Madison said exasperated, "Don't just stand there! Help me with her!" 

 

Cordelia snapped out of her daze, squatting down with her back facing the fainted blonde.

 

"What the hell are you doing, Miss?" the student asked, confused by her actions.

 

"Put her on my back, hurry," the urgency in the teacher's voice drove Madison to work immediately, pulled her friend's arms over the teacher's shoulders.

 

Cordelia's heart beat erratically against her ribcage as adrenaline coursed through her veins, giving her superhuman strength to pull the student up, carrying her all the way to the backseat of the car.

 

Madison got in the back with her friend while Cordelia ran to the driver's seat, the both of their minds thinking the same exact thing.

 

_ How in the world did this get so bad. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I really haven't had time for this story. Future updates should be roughly 2 weeks apart! Realllll Sorrryyyyy


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, unfortunately, I'm having a slight trouble completing The Goode Case. So I decided to give it another week to gather my crap up and write a whooping ass chapter for that one. In the meantime, here's a chapter of Million Reasons!

Cordelia was just done talking into her phone when she walked back to the younger blonde's side who was still overlooking on her friend's unconscious body.

 

"I called the police," Cordelia stated flatly as her body rounded the end of the hospital bed.

 

"You, WHAT?! Misty is going to kill-" Madison began to speak but was abruptly cut off by the teacher who wanted to explain her rationale behind calling the police. Besides, she could live with Misty hating her. She already figured that one out before she involved the authorities.

 

"Yes, but she has to-"

 

"If you're going to say she has to learn to let go of her father then you are so wrong… And I didn't say Misty was going to kill you. Let me finish my sentence-"

 

"What-"

 

"STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"

 

Cordelia opened her mouth to say something again but decided to hear the small blonde out first and thus fell silent.

 

"Misty will not kill you. She'll kill herself."

 

"What? WHY?" Cordelia was utterly confused by the turn of events. She could live with Misty wanting to kill her. But why would the Cajun want to kill herself? It's hardly even her fault. Where's the blame coming from?

 

"Because… Because Misty loves her father more than anything in the world and she would die. She would literally die for him."

 

###

 

"Her father abuses her," Cordelia made her statement to the police anyway. She could not give up on Misty. They had come up with a plan to support the Cajun who now was finally awake on the hospital bed, her head patched up in a bandage that acted as a hairband, keeping her wild curls out of her pale face.  

 

The plan was simple, get Misty's father out of the picture first and make sure Misty doesn't kill herself over it. 

 

"He doesn't," Misty denied as expected, "I was at a party an' things got out of hand, someone was drunk, hit ma' head with a wine bottle. I don't know why she called ya' here for."

 

"Misty Day, tell this police officer the truth right now. There's no point hiding it anymore," the teacher snapped but her voice was still gentle. She wasn't pissed at the student but was rather, sick and tired of Misty covering up for this man that didn't deserve a single ounce of love from the girl.

 

"Mist… Come on..." Madison whispered.

 

"He doesn't alright?! What the fuck are ya' all thinkin'?" the unruly blonde growled, crossing her hands in front of her.

 

"I think the victim is slightly confused with the turn of events. I will come back in the morning?"

 

"Stay." Cordelia's words were firm, "Misty?" Her knuckles white from clenching too tightly, not wanting to lose it in front of the officer. She gritted her teeth in a silent attempt to keep her mouth shut.

 

"Fuck ya', Miss Delia," the curly haired student hissed loudly, throwing a death glare at the officer who retreated slightly.

 

"I think I will just… Leave first.." the man said in an almost whisper, almost afraid, before turning his heel and leaving while the pair stared at each other intensively, each glare holding daggers.

 

Once he was gone, it was silence all over again and Madison stared intently at the both of them, waiting and waiting. Waiting for the first one to blow up.

 

Misty was first to shout, "WHAT THE FUCK YA' TWO," all the rage and anger in that sentence.

 

"Misty, you-"

 

"Ya' promised two weeks, why did'ya call da' police? Mads why didn't ya' stop her?!" It was accusation after accusation.

 

"Misty… I..." the blonde friend started, grinding on her teeth as she worriedly looked at the wild blonde who was just so close to losing her bearings.

 

"Fuck you," Misty repeated the swear word for the third time.

 

"Stop swearing or-" the teacher started to threaten.

 

"I love my Pa more than I will love myself so I don't need ya' ta' care of this. Kay?!" the wild blonde said in clipped words.

 

Cordelia stared at Misty, anger boiling up. This was no longer about "He said; She said," this was blood about to be spilled, arrows flying in random directions. Someone was bound to get hurt but none of them were prepared to back down. 

 

"I can't help you if you don't want to be helped, Misty!" she said in an exasperated tone that signalled she just wanted this to be over. 

 

"Then don't." Misty spat back.

 

And that tipped Cordelia off the scale of anger, her face a shade redder than the Cajun's that wore a smug smile. Challenging, taunting.

 

"I thought you could be helped but apparently not," she said, anger radiating off of her slender pale body before turning around and grabbing her bag to leave, "Just don't come knocking my door down when something happens again." 

 

And Madison stood there, her jaw slack as she watched the teacher walk out of the hospital room, not turning back even once. 

 

###

 

Cordelia drove straight back to the their boarding school, the sky still on the extreme end of the dark blue spectrum.

 

The anger was still simmering in her innards but she couldn't believe she just said that. She promised Madison that they would work together, with Zoe as well to help the helpless student but instead, she did the worst thing possible. She walked away.

 

And so she did what she thought was the next best thing possible for the wild blonde. She called up the lawyers and had a restraining order set up against Misty's father so he could not hurt her anymore. She knew her statement against him would be enough to have the man arrested and besides, the police could always drop by their house and find ample evidence to arrest him for battery and assault. At least this was better than having him arrested… Misty could see him… Just under controlled situations.

 

But the most pressing issue was settled. He could hurt his daughter no longer.

 

###

 

As expected, Misty didn't appear in school the next day, or the day after or the day after the day and when she tried to stop Madison or Zoe for a quick chat, they appeared distant and refused to disclose any information relating to the wild blonde apart from, "She's coping."

 

Misty, in truth, was not coping. 

 

She was stuck between feeling relieved that her father could no longer hurt her and feeling stupid for having told Cordelia. Her father lawyers had come to tell her of the restraining order Miss Cordelia had put in place. 

 

She was almost spiraling out of control.

 

"Hey, Misty, how are you feeling today?" her new foster mother asked as she placed a cup of glass in front of the wild blonde. It was stupid, Misty thought. She would be turning 18 in less than a year. Why would she still need a "foster mother"? But the law was the law and here she was, sitting next to the red-headed preppy kind of woman who was supposed to be her mother until then. And so far, she had been nothing but kind to the wild blonde.

 

"Okay… Could ya', um..." Misty gulped, "Perhaps bring me back to school tomorrow?"

 

"Are you sure, sweetheart? You aren't even fully recovered yet though?" Mrs Karen Rochester queried tenderly. To be very honest, Misty liked her. Karen reminded her of the tenderness of her mother, hell, she even smelled like her mother. 

 

"I think I'm fine now..." 

 

"Okay, I'll ring up the headmaster if you're sure. 100% no regrets, right?"

 

"Thank ya' Mrs Rochester," the teenager smiled sweetly, her lips pursed.

 

"Not a problem, dear. And you can just call me Karen." 

 

###

 

Misty stalked up the unfamiliar staircase and came to a halt in front of her new room.

 

It wasn't that she didn't like her new room… It just felt strange. It was a strange bed, in a strange room with a strange desk in a strange house…

 

She buried her head into the pillowcase that still smelt of the furniture shop and let out a muffled scream, banging herself repeatedly onto the soft bedding until she was interrupted by her phone beeping. It was their group chat.

 

_ Madie: Hey Mist, hope u r feeling better 2day.  _

_ Zo: Miss Goode has been looking for you. _

_ Madie: Yea, more like she won't shut up about u. _

_ Zo: Madison!  _

_ Madie: Zoe! _

**_Misty: … She's looking for me for…_ **

_ Madie: Dunno? Anyway, do u think I should do pink nails or… _

_ Zo: Pink nails. Besides, Misty, are you coming in tomorrow? _

**_Misty: Yes. Should be. Pink nails, too._ **

_ Zo: You should text Ms Goode. She's worried. _

_ Zo: Misty? _

_ Madie: Mist's a chicken. _

_ Madie: GO TEXT MS GOODE SO SHE CAN STOP FUCKING BOTHERING ME BEFORE I SLEEP. _

 

Misty stared at the text. She figured after that day, the teacher would want nothing more to do with her… Yet there she was with her nosy personality, asking around for information, again. Her heart ached slightly. Cordelia Goode, whom she had just met, less than two months ago was much more caring than her own fucking father. What was wrong with the world? 

 

With her thoughts manifesting, her index finger swiped over to the contacts, her thumb hovering over Cordelia's phone number that she had saved under "Miss Cordelia Goode".

 

Her mind flashed with images of yelling at the blonde teacher. And then the look of disappointment she had when she left the hospital. She remembered very clearly the look of nonchalance she gave the teacher. 

 

"Why are ya' such'an idiot? She was just tryna' help ya'?" Misty hit her head while her eyes squeezed shut, angry tears flooding them.

 

She let out a shaky exhale before quickly typing into the fresh text.

 

**_Misty: I'm sorry._ **

 

###

 

Cordelia ran her hands through her wet hair, trying to untangle them . Her body was wrapped in a fluffy white towel as she made her way out of the bathroom and into her tiny room. Her phone lit up with texts she had missed during that particularly long shower.

 

She ignored them and changed into a stripped sweater and shorts, climbing up onto bed lazily. 

 

She figured the texts from work could wait till the next day. She had enough of work for today. Her mind buzzed with the thoughts of the Cajun who had never left her mind in the past three days. She kept her hands clamped together to stop herself from looking at the texts but her eyes couldn't look away. An unfamiliar number caught her eye. 

 

_ +1 (203) 8374 637: I'm sorry. _

 

She looked at the text for a while, wondering who it might be until it dawned on her that it was her wild blonde student. She saved the number under Misty's name.

 

**Cordelia: Misty? I'm guessing this is you? What are you sorry about?**

Misty: Yes. Sorry for snappin' at you.

 

The teacher tapped on her phone. She was more worried than pissed.

 

**_Cordelia: It's fine, Misty. How are you?_ **

_ Misty: I'm fine. _

**_Cordelia: Misty…_ **

_ Misty: What? _

**_Cordelia: Even over text, you're so headstrong._ **

_ Misty: It's just… I'm still angry. Slightly. But mostly… I'm not. _

**_Cordelia: Do you want to talk about it? We can talk now._ **

_ Misty: What's there to talk about… _

**_Cordelia: Everything you want to talk about. Anything and everything. I promise I won't walk away like I did in the hospital. I'm sorry, too._ **

 

The wild blonde was typing a reply but Cordelia's phone lighted up with a call that stopped her from reading what her student had typed out.

 

###

 

_ The teacher actually apologized. For god's sake it wasn't even her fault. _

 

The Cajun typed a quick reply and hit send.

 

**_Misty: I snapped. If anything, it was my fault._ **

 

Her feet curled up into her chest as she waited for a reply from the teacher. Her feet tapping inpatiently against the bed underneath it and she curled further into her blanket.

 

**_Misty:_ ** _ Hey… But does the offer still stand? I really want to talk to someone about everything… _

**_Misty:_** _I just… I'm afraid. And I'm sad. And I don't know what to feel, y'know? It's almost like I feel relieved that he can't get to me anymore but he's my father. God. Why. I feel so bad for feeling that way. Is it wrong? I'm so, so confused. And I'm afraid because now he's gone too and he's all I have left but i feel so relieved… I feel so relieved…_ _And he's the person I was so afraid of. But now I'm afraid because I lost him. Does this even make any sense at all?_

**_Misty:_ ** _ I shouldn't need to feel this way… It's almost like there's no point in life anymore… I don't know... _

 

She felt the block in her throat grow and the more she typed, the more she felt herself ripping from the inside out. 

 

**_Misty:_ ** _ I hate this. I hate myself. _

 

She brought her blanket up to wipe away at the tears and her mouth sort of contorted in an upside-down U shape. Heaving sobs tore themselves from her throat as she choked again, this time on the sobs that wouldn't leave. She fell back onto her pillow, still waiting for the older woman to reply. To be her saving grace. To pull her out of the depths of despair.

 

_ To stop her self-destructive thoughts. _

 

**_Misty:_ ** _ Are you even still there?  _

 

Her eyebrows creased together. And even with her vision blurred, she still looked at the phone, hoping, waiting for the blonde teacher's reply that never came.

 

The feeling of a weight crushing upon her came in waves she couldn't explain. But she knew this wasn't the first time she felt this way. The first time was after her Ma's death. And now, even with her Pa still alive, she was mourning for the loss of him. How screwed up was that.  _ How screwed up was she? _

 

And so she fell into darkness when she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. The peaceful sound of silence coming after her eyes fluttered close. 

 

###

 

The next day, Misty flinched as Karen shook her awake.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, darling," the woman said gently, "School is starting in about an hour. Unless you changed your mind?"

 

"I'mma fine to go in t'day," Misty relaxed when she realised she was in safe hands.

 

She looked over at her phone that was placed face down on the bedside table before picking it up to check if there were any unread texts from anyone.

 

_ Her notification board was empty. _

 

And as much as she tried to hold it in, she felt her dams open in front of Karen and soon, the red-headed woman was cradling her on the bed like a little child, telling her to let it all out. She felt her lips trembled from raw emotion. Her heart was like a funeral toll, each beat ringing loudly against her ears. She wheezed heavily as her airway was blocked from the deathly cries of despair.

  
Cordelia was her last salvage and even she had given up on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So basically, Misty is sort of going into a depressed state right now. I mean who wouldn't right? In the subsequent chapters, I will probably make it worse (before it gets better of course) but if you feel triggered by any of this, please stop reading immediately. I will put a warning before the next chapter as well. Also, I'm sorry this fic hasn't had my attention for a month now...? I'm trying to complete The Goode Case first. But I promise this fic is not abandoned!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on the last chapter of TGC so here's MR instead! Happy Reading!

The next day came and Misty had told Karen she would be okay to go to school today.

 

"Good morning, Misty. Eggs and bacon for breakfast today!" Karen chirped around the kitchen and Misty settled down onto the island next to Bart, her foster father.

 

She looked shyly at him and studied his features intently.

 

"You know, Miss Day, I can feel your big blue eyes on my very bald head," Bart teased, flipping his newspaper down onto his lap.

 

Misty crinkled her nose, looking at his genuine smile. She felt slightly nostalgic. Her family use to be like this once before but before her thoughts could get too dark, Karen let out a hearty laugh before setting the porcelain white plate in front of the both of them, her hands urging them to take a bite.

 

The redhead searched blue eyes for an approval of her breakfast, Misty appeasing her with a thumbs up and a deep nod while Bart continued to stir his coffee.

 

"So you play ice-hockey?" Bart tried at starting a conversation.

 

"Mmhm," the wild blonde approved between bites of her breakfast that was now thoroughly drenched in tomato sauce.

 

"And I heard you're good at it, huh?" he continued, smiling.

 

"Oh, Bart, she's the captain for a reason!" Karen interjected playfully.

 

"And her secret is the tomato sauce? Holy crap!" he exaggerated before following in Misty's footsteps and squirting a deathly amount of sauce onto his plate, subsequently chomping down on the sauce covered eggs, "Yum! Maybe after this I'll be lucky with the stock market today."

 

And for the first time since a week ago, the Cajun let out a genuine laughter.

 

"You're pretty when you smile, Misty," Karen complemented, causing the wild blonde to blush slightly, "Bart, you should talk more now. Make the girl smile, won't you?"

 

###

 

After the cheerful breakfast, Misty grabbed her haversack and was all ready to leave for school. Her cheeks ached a little from all the smiling.

 

"Hey, Misty?" Karen shouted out to the wild blonde who was already walking away towards the garage where her car was parked, "I packed you lunch," she waved the brown bag like a flag, her eyes crinkling.

 

Misty gave a small smile before she tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket, half running, half skipping back towards the redhead to receive the packed sandwich from the outstretched hand.

 

"You have a good day, Misty. I'll see you home by 8pm?" Karen asked as her eyebrows gave a questioning look.

 

"8pm it is. Ya' have a good day ta', Ms Karen!" Misty echoed.

 

###

 

Misty felt the friends' eyes land on her for the tenth time since this morning.

 

She tried to shrug it off but from the corner of her eye, she saw Madison poke Zoe and then whisper something to Evan and Luke, causing her to look up.

 

"Will ya' quit the whisperin' an' starin'? It's gettin' old," Misty slammed her books onto the desk, her eyes seeking an explanation as to why her friends were walking on eggshells around her.

 

Madison shrugged and Zoe stepped forward to explain, "You know we're just worried, Mist."

 

"Yea..." the boys nodded in agreement.

 

"Just… I'mma fine, y'all," she tried to look as convincing as she could possibly look, before reinterating, "I'mma really fine ya'guys. I'll let ya' know when I ain't, kay?"

 

She received a few nods before they started talking amongst themselves again, this time including Misty in the conversation about the party that was coming up this coming weekend, which was just a couple of days away. Kyle informed everyone that it would be held at Luke's house instead of his since his folks were getting their kitchen renovated. 

 

As the school day almost came to an end, Misty couldn't help but wonder where in the world Cordelia was. She had not seen her, nor heard from her since that very night and the pit of her suspicions were confirmed when the class erupted into a multitude of cheers and sorrows as Myrtle walked into her Biology class. 

 

"Girls! Can I have a minute please!" the old teacher tapped her pointer onto the desk, commanding everyone's attention, "Miss Cordelia has taken a leave of absence for an unknown period of time. Until then, I will be taking over her classes. Now can..."

 

Misty stopped listening.

 

_ Taken a leave of absence. So much for "I'm here for you." _

 

Instead of trying to understand why the teacher might have taken a leave of absence, Misty scoffed slightly, almost choking on her pride. But as her mind ran over the words again and again, she knew her tears were about to escape from their space between her eye at her eyelids so she looked away, wiping her sleeve slightly over her eyes, turning it a damp grey.

 

Her eyes ran back to her brunette friend who was seated in the next seat and heaved a sigh of relief when Zoe failed to notice that.

 

The Cajun looked over to the windows, wishing herself away from this class and she felt the pit in her stomach fall once again as reality began to set in.

 

Her teacher had left her. The night that she opened up, her teacher decided she was too much of a trouble. She felt the heavy tears grace her cheeks again, wiping at them furiously as she thought about how weak she was! God! Why her?

 

But as quickly as the tears fell, they were gone and she felt herself gripping tightly onto her shorts. And she willed herself to look back into the class where Myrtle continued teaching, unbeknownst the Misty's thoughts.

 

###

 

The last bell signalled the end of yet another mundane school day and Misty, together with Kyle made their way to the hockey rinks to get ready for training. As they walked, they discussed on how they should play out each game, the weaknesses of the other schools they would be playing against this season. 

 

"By the way, Mist. I heard about your dad. I'm terribly sorry it happened, Misty. You know I'm always here if you want to talk right? How are you holding up?" Kyle said gently, grabbing his friend by the elbow, halting their synchronised steps.

 

"I'mma doin' okay, Kyle. Thank ya' fo-" Misty began but before she could complete her lies, Kyle interrupted her.

 

"That's not what I hear, Misty. Madison tells me you are feeling down." He stared hard at her, hoping that she could read between his lines.

 

"That..." Misty averted his gaze.

 

"Misty I just… I've known you for so long now and I know how you coped when your mother first died. You know that's the wrong way to do it right? You're over that right? Misty?!" Kyle stresses, pulling his friend in front of him so he could get a good look at her face. 

 

Misty remained silent.

 

"Tell me you don't cut yourself anymore, Misty?!" He went straight to the point this time and Misty flinched in his strong arms.

 

"I don't..." she stuttered, suddenly afraid of his gawking eyes that demanded to know everything and anything that was going on, "Let me go!" she cried out in a futile attempt to escape.

 

Overwhelmed, she steeled herself to control her breathing as she felt herself slip into an instant flashback.

 

_ (Misty's flashback to being beaten) _

 

_ "For gods sake, stop crying Misty! She's gone! She's gone forever!" her father bellowed into her ear as he held her in a death grip. _

 

_ It was just less than a year since her mother's passing and Misty had suddenly burst out crying in the middle of school, causing her father to have to leave work to pick the 12 year old her. She wanted to sob into her father's chest but mostly, she just wanted her mother. _

 

_ "Misty, you stop this, right this instant!" he shouted again, causing her calm bubble to burst and her hiccups to quickly escalate into hitched breathing, hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she fell slump into her father's arms. _

 

_ And she didn't even see him raise his hand but in that instant, her cheek was on fire and the smack echoed through the dining room. _

 

_ Immediately, her breathing became even again but her eyes still squeezed shut and tears still streamed down. She fell deathly silent. _

 

_ That was the first time he had hit her. _

 

_ (End of flashback) _

 

Her erratic breathing went unrecognized by Kyle who was still throwing questions at her. Zoe who had just come by to join Misty for hockey practice found them in the very same position.

 

"Kyle! Let go of her! Oh god! Misty? Misty? Are you okay?" she yanked the breathless blonde out of the boy's grip, helping her over to a nearby bench.

 

Just then, Madison who was on her way to cheerleading swung round the corner and was immediately kneeled down in front of her hyperventilating friend.

 

"Kyle!!!" she screamed, deafening all four of them.

 

"Misty said she was cutting herself!" he defended, putting his hands up as Madison confronted him with a look that could kill, "I was just trying to help because the last time she lost a parent, Misty almost fucking killed herself!"

 

"That's not how you FUCKING HELP, KYLE," the cheerleader yelled back before turning to her best friend, "Are you okay, Mist?"

 

Misty, who between the angry shouts, calmed herself using her usual deep breathing exercises, gave a meek nod, Zoe still by her side, drawing comforting circles over her back.

 

And it was then, Zoe turned towards the wild blonde and said sternly, "Is it true? What Kyle said. Are you… Are you doing that again? Misty you-"

 

"I'm not. I'm over that," Misty stated firmly, more to herself than to her friends.

 

"Misty, it's a big thing. It's okay to not be okay. If you need help, we're here. And maybe you should go for some kind of therapy?"

 

"I am. I'm going for therapy. Karen's makin' me go," Misty admitted to her friends, "Ma' first session is this sometimn' this month."

 

"And you'll go?"

 

Misty nodded, promising, "This ain't like last time."

 

###

 

Misty returned home before 8pm as promised and she headed up to her room after having a quick dinner which consisted of her favourite Mac'nCheese.

 

She slipped her backpack off her shoulder and onto the floor, followed by her jacket and her other clothing articles followed closely after, forming a trail leading towards the bathroom where she stood now just in her undergarments.

 

She hadn't bothered to turn on the lights of the bathroom. She tilted her head sligty into the full length mirror as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. And as each second passed, she could see better under the moonlight that shone through a small window and the artificial lighting from the room that crept in from the open door. And as poetic as it sounded, her pale skin seemed almost grotesque. 

 

The bruises were almost a faded petal color now.

 

She traced lightly over them, missing them silently. These were the last of them and when they were gone, there would be nothing left.

 

There would be nothing left to remind her of her father.

 

###

 

"We are here, Miss," the taxi-driver announced to Cordelia as they pulled up against a decent looking building that was slightly old but there were efforts of trying to keep it as good looking as possible.

 

Her head turned away from the building, allowing herself to get familiarized with her surroundings. It had been _ years _ since she had been here and everything had moved on. Hell, even she had moved on. But as if time beckoned her, she came back to what was supposed to be an encased time capsule of a phase in her life she did not want to remember. The blonde looked up and squinted hazel eyes landed on the enlarged print of letters that seared into the corner of her eyes. 

 

_ Brickwater Home for Extended Care.  _

 

She took her sunglasses off and examined the lobby area which remained the same with it's pale yellow wall and white trimmings. She hung the glasses over her striped shirt, providing her driver's license as proof of her identity, "I am Cordelia Goode, you spoke to me over the phone and had me come in."

 

"Yes! It's good that you can make it here this fast, Miss. This way please," the lady over the counter reached out and pointed her towards the door, "Room 502." 

 

"I know," Cordelia whispered.

 

She made her way down the hallway and she pushed the white door open, revealing a furnished little room that was cozy and soft. And in the middle of the room sat a woman on the queen sized bed. Her back was facing Cordelia but she knew who that was. Oh, she had seen that back many times before.

 

The woman was dressed in a pastel pink button up pyjamas with a knitted lavender cardigan. And Cordelia almost snickered to herself for today was a Wednesday. And on Wednesdays, she wore black but there was not a trace of black on the woman. The woman's once luscious blonde hair was now reduced to wispy ends that went down to her shoulders.

 

She was almost waiting for the woman to turn around and snap at her but the woman remained her stony demeanor. 

 

"Hi, are you Miss Cordelia? I am Doctor Rasjid, your mother's doctor. This way to my office, I will speak to you about her now." his thick british accent snapped Cordelia out of her daze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to give Cordelia a bit of a back story too. What do you think was so important that Cordelia had to leave her job and all for an unknown period of time? Hope you guys like this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy reading!

"Please have a seat, Miss Cordelia," he gestured to the seat opposite his desk as Cordelia closed the door behind her. His office was all white, like most other offices are but she studied the details of the wall intently while the doctor took sometime to pull out a file that belonged to her mother.

 

"So… Let's begin, shall we?"  the doctor raised his eyebrows, sighing when Cordelia didn't reply to his question, "Miss Cordelia, if I could just get your attention?"

 

She looked slightly annoyed but nodded for him to go on.

 

"Fiona Goode. Female. 58 years old. Diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease at age-"

 

Cordelia continued staring at him, waiting and waiting until she cut him off, "Will you cut to the chase. I still don't see why I am here. I  _ specifically _ told the people here that I  _ did not  _ want a phone call unless something-" she started to get slightly riled up, adjusting her striped shirt as the room began to heat up.

 

"Your mother has cancer," he stated flatly, placing the file back onto table as he sat there, awaiting a moment of realisation to dawn on Cordelia.

 

"Okay, I'm leaving. This was such a waste of time. I have a job to get back to. Why can't you professionals do _ your job _ ? Chemo? I already consented to any form of medical treatment-" she lisped as her other hand found the handle of her bag in the next seat.

 

" _ Your mother _ , has cancer," he reiterated, "Stage 4 liver cancer. We caught it too late and it has spread to her other organs. I would give her about a month, maybe two."

 

She crossed her arms in front of her, replying, "About time she got fucking cancer. Listen here,  _ Doctor _ , this may sound crude but God knew how many drinks  _ she _ had each time before she threw me across the room.  _ She _ was the monster in every one of my closets and I really don't give a rat's ass on what is to happen to-" She didn't even bother to finish her answer before she grabbed her purse by the handles and stormed out of the office.

 

The olive-skinned doctor quickly rounded his table and chased after the blonde woman who had already reached the lobby.

 

Grabbing her by the elbow, her spun her around and spoke in a stern tone, "Miss Cordelia,  _ your mother is dying _ . I agree maybe abuse is not something you just get over. Especially if it came from your mother-"

 

"MAYBE?! It's not something you just fucking get over. Why don't  _ you _ tell my mother to fucking get over _ her _ cancer? If you don't fucking know what it's like then don't fucking make stupid comments." she yelled, causing a commotion in the foyer area as everyone stared at the both of them.

 

The doctor was taken aback. He didn't expect her reaction to be filled with so much hatred and he suddenly found himself at a loss of words.

 

"But if you leave… If you walk through those doors. This was be the last time you see her, Miss. And some people would give anything to see their mother for one last time." a timid voice that came from behind startled the both of them. It was the nice lady from the counter who had stepped forward.

 

Cordelia blinked once. 

 

She thought about all the times her mother had called her useless and the times she had bitched slapped her in front of her classmates. But then she thought about Misty. That girl who had lost her mother at such a young age. She would've given anything to see her mother again. 

 

"A  _ month _ , you said?" she looked unapologetically at the doctor.

 

He nodded slowly, unsure what Cordelia's next words would be, “A month to-”

 

"Two weeks. That's all the time she gets and if she's still around, I'm returning her to this _ damned hell hole _ ." she compromised, she tilted her chin up in pride, "Get her ready to be picked up first thing tomorrow morning."

 

And she stormed off pass the swivel doors, never looking back.

 

###

 

Cordelia got on the yellow cab and headed for her childhood home which was located slightly upstate in the lush green fields of New York.

 

Being so harped up over her mother that she had failed to respond to any messages regardless of urgency and as she scrolled through the missed calls and messages, she pressed her thumbs onto her temples worriedly.

 

Myrtle texted her about taking over her class and something about Misty being inattentive… Misty… Her fingers made a beeline for Misty's last text which was made on Tuesday, sometime in the wee hours.

 

Her eyes bulged. 6 missed messages.

 

**_Misty:_ ** _ I snapped. If anything, it was my fault. _

**_Misty:_ ** _ Hey… But does the offer still stand? I really want to talk to someone about everything… _

**_Misty:_** _I just… I'm afraid. And I'm sad. And I don't know what to feel, y'know? It's almost like I feel relieved that he can't get to me anymore but he's my father. God. Why. I feel so bad for feeling that way. Is it wrong? I'm so, so confused. And I'm afraid because now he's gone too and he's all I have left but i feel so relieved… I feel so relieved…_ _And he's the person I was so afraid of. But now I'm afraid because I lost him. Does this even make any sense at all?_

**_Misty:_ ** _ I shouldn't need to feel this way… It's almost like there's no point in life anymore… I don't know... _

**_Misty:_ ** _ I hate this. I hate myself. _

**_Misty:_ ** _ Are you even still there?  _

 

She looked at the time stamps on each one. The first few had few minute intervals between them made at about 10pm, at the time the people had called her about her mother. And the last four, there were at least a half hour's difference between each. 

 

2:54AM was when the last one was sent.

 

She typed in a text and tapped on her phone impatiently waiting for the girl to reply, her heart thumping wildly at the thought of what could have happened to the girl.

 

A few minutes passed and Cordelia couldn't wait any longer. She typed in another text in a futile effort to get the wild blonde to reply before tapping on a contact of someone she had known for a very long time. 

 

"Hello? This is Cordelia. Yes, yes. I just want to ask about Misty? How is she..."

 

###

 

The tall blonde looked down at her phone that buzzed just as she got it parked into her new house's garage. When she saw the teacher's name, she rolled her eyes dramatically and drew a sharp breath, shaking her head.

 

**_Cordelia: Misty? You okay?_ **

 

_ Seriously?! _ She thought to herself. That was the best she could do? YOU OKAY? What kind of a stupid vague question was that? Misty contemplated on whether to reply but finally decided against it. 

 

Right the minute her foot stepped into the room, the wild blonde collapsed onto her bed. It hadn't even been a long day but everything just felt dark and bad today. She was hoping for a quick chat with Karen about it but the redhead was on the phone when she came home. She decided to get a change of clothes as her phone buzzed annoyingly again.

 

**_Cordelia: Misty, please. Call me. I can explain myself…_ **

 

Explain herself? What was there to explain other than the fact that the woman had basically walked away when things got too hard for her to handle it.

 

She threw the closet door open and spotted the familiar columbia crewneck that Cordelia had borrowed her. She sneered, ripping the hoodie from it's place and throwing it somewhere between the boxes she had yet to unpack. The last thing she needed was the sweatshirt to remind her of that horrid woman every time she was in the closet.

 

Since coming here, she hadn't really been courageous enough to explore the halls on her own but now that she had become more familiar with her surroundings, her hands trailed along the trimmings of the large suburban house. The music of a jazz tape was floating around the hallways as she tapped her hands onto her thigh rhythmically, her mind wandering as she skipped along the hardwood flooring.

 

Karen and Bart were really such sweet folks and she couldn't ask for better foster parents. Even though she was probably only going to be living with them for less than a year, she felt a sense of connection to them. And if she had a choice, she just might want to stay longer. A child in her yearned for parents. She thought about he soon found herself in a room that resembled a library of sorts. Just an office, really. 

 

Her eyes scanned over a couple of book titles, smiling to herself when she realised there were a couple that she had always wanted to read. The Cajun made a mental note to ask Bart later if she could borrow some.

 

She wandered to the end of the large room where behind an oak wood table sat the large leather chair she presumed to be Bart's. Papers were still sprawled over, and at the corner sat the prominent salmon pages of the Financial Times that was delivered on a day-to-day basis right outside their door.

 

There were a couple of framed pictures of happy people. On the left stood a slightly faded one of a young Karen and Bart in their tennis wear. In the nearby country club perhaps, she thought. They haven't really changed that much actually. That one was dated almost 20 years back.

 

There was a small black and white photo of a little girl Misty first thought was Karen but as she took a closer look, she realised the girl had blonde hair slightly lighter than hers. This photo was also a little bit faded and it didn't have a date stamped on it.

 

Next to it was a photo taken somewhere in a Vineyard, except this one contained another girl, a young teenager, probably barely past 14 years old in that photo, maybe even younger. Maybe it was the same baby in the previous photo, she thought. They were all smiles. She wondered who this girl was and where she was now. Karen hadn't mentioned her to Misty before, that was odd. Perhaps she should ask them over dinner tonight. This one was a little closer in date, about 10 years back. That would make the girl almost 24 now.

 

It was the next photo that caught her eye. This one was sitting apart from the others, on the other end of the table. Unlike the others, this one seemed recent. But, there they were, all smiles like the previous one except the girl had gotten much older now, sporting the obvious royal purple gown from New York University. Her mind ran through a dozen different faces, ones she had seen on streets, on campus, on the roads and she picked the lone frame up and brought it closer for inspection. She needed to make sure… 

 

In an instant, her hand slapped over her open mouth as the name she had in mind matched the young adult in the photo.  _ No… It couldn't be… _ Her eyes were so wide open she felt they might just pop out anytime.

 

_ How…  _ A whimper escaped her mouth. She was dumbfounded.

 

Grabbing the frame, she immediately fled the scene and rushed down the stairs to demand an explanation from Karen.

 

"KARREENNN?" she shouted as her feet thumped hardly against each wooden stair plank that signalled her arrival into the foyer.

 

"Darling, I'm on the phone, could you wait for just a minute?" Karen placed her hand over the receiver and shouted back to the wild blonde who was not slowing down.

 

"No. We need ta’ talk." Misty was all ready to continue. She wouldn't have even cared if it was the president that Karen was on the phone with. But Karen wasn't on the phone with the president. 

 

"Misty, please? I need to finish this-" Karen began but then she saw what Misty was holding in her hands, "Right, yes. Mmm, Delia? Misty's here. I will finish this conversation with you later …... I will call back …… Yes …... No, nothing's wrong …... She just …… No, no. I will call you back …… Goodbye, sweetie …… Yes, I love you too."

 

Misty mouth remained in an uncharacteristic grim line that told Karen she wanted an explanation to what that was IMMEDIATELY. Thankfully, the redhead recognised that and ushered the Cajun towards the kitchen counters.

 

"You want something to drink?" 

 

"No. Were ya’ just on the phone with Miss Cordelia? Explain this?” She held up the photoframe like a forensic scientist holding up evidence. She wasn't mad or anything.  _ Not yet at least.  _ But the thought that they had kept such an important information from her fueled her anger.

 

“Cordelia… Yes, yes I was just on the phone with her. And that's her in the photo on her graduation day,” Karen started by stating the obvious. Misty waited for her to continue, her eyes staring hard at the woman, the rage hissing within her as the woman took so long to get to the point. 

 

Karen shook her head, “She is worried about you.”

 

That tipped it for Misty. “Don't ya’ make tis’ ‘bout me. Is she... Is she ya’ daughter?!” Misty yelled out.  _ How dare she… _

 

“We… We… " the woman stuttered, darting her eyes wildly as she seeked a way to explain it all to the wild blonde, "No," she finally settled on that, "We fostered her. Just like you. She came in under certain circumstances that didn't allow for her to live with her mother. And we had her till she was old enough to be on her own but we chipped in on her college fees and we'd like to do the same for you too, Misty. We really do," Karen explained carefully as she stood opposite at the other side of the kitchen island, looking straight into blue eyes.

 

"What do ya' mean by  _ she came'in under certain circumstances _ ?!" Misty ran her hand through her blonde curls exasperatedly as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that Cordelia, Miss Cordelia Goode used to stay in this house, probably in the very same room she stayed in right now. Her disgust for that woman was growing by the second.

 

"I think you should ask her that, Misty. It's not in our place to tell her story," Karen sighed. Maybe she should have came clean about this the minute Misty set foot in this house. She knew it was going to come up one way or the other.

 

"Fine. But I will ask ya' one question," Misty croaked, "Did ya' foster me 'cause she told ya' ta'? 'Cause i was so pitiful an' she knew I would be placed in a shitty foster home if ya' didn't take me in? IS THAT SO?" she bellowed the last question, her stomach flipping as waves of fury overtook her.

 

Karen looked at the child, unknowing of how to respond. And that, to Misty, was the signal of every truth, unuttered and unspoken. She knew all along that her rotten luck wouldn't have gotten her nice and caring foster parents. This was the ugly truth in that the Rochesters simply were doing a favor for their… Child. Cordelia who was perfect. Cordelia who was smart. Cordelia who was everything.

 

The wild blonde felt the weight of realisation sink her deeper into the seat. And she for once, felt so weak, so vulnerable.  _ She thought she was wanted.  _

 

Her anger seemed pointless now as her head tilted downwards in despair. But she remained angry anyway, the burning rage seething through each and every pore in her skin. 

 

For once in her life since her mother's death, she thought she was wanted. She was just that close to forgiving herself but sweet Cordelia had come to ruin it.

 

_ Sweet Cordelia had come to ruin it. _

 

###

 

The next week or so passed like any other for Misty. But Cordelia was having a much tougher time herself.

 

In that same day, Karen had ringed up the teacher who was knitted her brows together at the information. But she didn't regret setting this up. As long as Misty was okay. The Cajun could hate her. She could beat her. But she just had to be alright. 

 

The next day came and her mother had become the bigger problem, as she was for the next two weeks of Cordelia's life. Fiona barely recognized her. But when she did, Cordelia was tiptoeing around the lady like a deer in a lions den. 

 

As she was putting away the newspapers that had collected on the coffee table, she eyed her mother carefully. “Cordelia!” the woman’s shrill voice beckoned her blonde daughter to her side, “What have I told you about staying out of my sight?!!!” 

 

“Mother-” she started to sigh. 

 

“Go to your room now! Get away, child! Before I hit you.” The old woman hissed to dismiss her daughter from the room. Fiona, in whatever state of mind she was in, only remembered Cordelia to be the child she was all those years ago. And she hated her mother for that and she tried to tell herself that it was the illness that was taking her mother away from her but Fiona hadn't been quite a mother to her as a child than any other stranger on the street.

 

Growing up, it was something between two choices. Get in the way of Fiona and get slapped right then, stay out of sight and still get slapped later. She didn't know how to respond to that but a part of her heart knew that all those beatings she received as a child were nothing but once a form of pleasure the woman had. She was  _ nothing _ but a sport, nothing but a mistake. "I should have aborted you if I knew you were going to be such a good for nothing," the cold blue stare still haunt Cordelia at times. Her shoulders shuddered at the thought of the woman's smile after each blow that would send her tiny frame flying across the room followed by a string of expletives as the woman yanked her up when Cordelia could get up no longer. 

 

But now as she looked at the woman who was once a beauty, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for leaving it till so late. Taken away from her mother when she was just 12 years old, it felt like a lifetime had passed since then. Fiona Goode who once boasted the many man whom she paraded like trophies around the house was now reduced down to a barely audible, barely remembering, and barely living woman. 

 

She worked around in the kitchen, getting ready the daily dose of painkillers her mother had to take. Her eyes brimming with tears as she took the multicolored pills to where her mother was sitting, in that ratty little armchair she remembered from her childhood. The woman's eyes were listless now, unrecognising. And the daughter urged the pills into her mother's hand who simply took them without another word.

 

Indeed, two weeks came and past as quickly as a sunset. And as promised, she did return her mother to the doctors, promising to come visit on weekends. Dr. Rasjid was less than pleased, called her something along the lines of a bitch and a cold-hearted woman. 

 

With the same cold hard eyes she had inherited, she looked at him and spat, "Well, I learned from the best, didn't I?"

 

###

 

She sat at the back of the cab, her thoughts eating her alive as she relived every moment, and every memory of her mother.

 

There was nothing left to that woman but an empty shell. In truth, she had wished her mother had died within that two weeks with her. She wished away her mother's alzheimer's. And in the midst of everything that was happening, she wished for a miracle despite everything that had happened. She wished her mother would be cured. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cordelia's backstory is not just done yet. But Cordelia will return back to school in the next chapter! Look forward to that!! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Reading!

Misty woke up and put on a grey Abercrombie henley paired with a pair of skinny jeans that came up just above her ankles. It was the start of October now and the weather was starting to get a little too chilly for summer shorts. Misty wondered where time flew. It felt like so many things had happened since school started but it had barely been two months.

 

She ran a comb hopelessly through her thick curls. It was a lime green tangle teezer that Karen had gotten her. Since the day everything came out into the light, her relationship with Karen and Bart hadn't been in the best place. Although she tried her best not to hold it against them, but the tense atmosphere at home felt stifling after a while and tried as she might, she still reached home later with each passing night. 

 

"Misty! Breakfast is ready!" the loud voice came from the downstairs kitchen.

 

"I'mma not hungry!" she yelled back as she shoved her jacket into the jansport haversack and lugged her duffel bag containing her hockey equipment down. It was almost competition season soon and as of today, they started intensive trainings. Their school had been defending champions since five years ago and Misty was not about to lose that title. Not under her leadership.

 

Looking in the mirror, she straightened her outfit and heaved the heavy bag over one of her shoulder and leaned over to the bedside table to grab her phone, almost falling in the process due to the disproportionate weight distributed on each shoulder. Her phone slid effortlessly into her graphite colored jeans and she skipped her way down the stairs.

 

###

 

The wild blonde clicked the car trunk close before getting in onto the passenger seat. Karen had offered to take her in their car seeing as she was already going to be late despite her skipping breakfast.

 

As Karen started up the car, she passed a paper bag and left it on the wild blonde's thighs when she didn't reach out to take it.

 

"Eat it. It's going to be a long day and I won't have you miss breakfast, sweetie," the foster mother clicked as the garage doors opened, allowing the black Mercedes SUV to roll out.

 

Misty looked into the paper bag. She didn't feel hungry but her stomach said otherwise as it growled, leaving the Cajun's face as red as the woman's hair. "Sorry," she mumbled while taking a big bite of the BLT sandwich. 

 

"It's good. Let me know what time you'll be done-"

 

Misty turned to look at Karen's strong jawline. "It's cool. I'll catch'a ride from Zoe home."

 

"You sure, honey? Zoe's car is quite small isn't it? And all your hockey stuff?" the redhead arched her eyebrow, taking her eyes off the road for a split second to face the hockey player.

 

Misty nodded. In truth, she hated Zoe's car. The Volkswagen beetle model was big enough for the small brunnette but it was definitely not built for the Cajun's long legs. And don't forget both their duffel bags that were going to be taking up basically half the car. Sighing under her breath, she made no effort to continue the conversation with the redhead and the car fell into awkward silence.

 

Within 15 minutes, they were at the school's large roundabout.

 

"Have a good day at school, hun. See you at night!" Karen had started to say but the wild blonde had already hopped out of her seat and was already behind the car, pulling her bags out. While she waited for the wild blonde to shut the trunk, Karen's fingers tapped away on her phone.

 

"Fuck!" Misty muttered under her breath, causing the woman to put her hand behind the passenger seat as she turned around to face angry blue eyes.

 

"What is it?" she queried, looking up and down the wild blonde, trying to find out what's wrong.

 

"I left ma' favourite stick at home..." Misty's mouth formed a lopsided frown before shrugging as she popped her head between the seats to look at the redhead.

 

Karen looked down at her wrist, shaking it so the watch face faced her. "Your practice starts at 3.30pm? Mmm… I'll bring it to you at 2.15pm since you end at 2 and you can have your lunch after that. I'll wait for you at the parking lot by the Lanchester Halls."

 

"Really? Thank'ya' Karen! It's the-" her lopsided frown turned into a slight smile.

 

"The blue one with the white words and the yellow tip," Karen completed the sentence, "Now, you're going to be late if you don't go in quickly. I'll see you later."

 

Misty clicked the trunk and she sped off in the direction of Madison's room. She couldn't remember when she had told the woman about her favourite hockey stick. But it sure felt good.

 

###

 

Cordelia's first day back at school was eventful, to say the least.

 

It was a Monday but her table was already piled full of papers that were due her marking over her absence. Thank god for lovely Myrtle who had offered to take her classes for one more day just so she could catch up and all those work.

 

She let her red ball pen glide across each paper and was well into the third stack, her AP class' class test that had been taken over her absence. A slight smile lingered on her lips when she realised the class was doing relatively well, unlike some of her freshmen students who were obviously going to be down for extra tutoring.

 

Delicate fingers clasped the sides of the papers and aligned them against the table as she was down to the last few papers in the stack. She flipped open and was greeted by big circular cursive writing that was messily scribbled along the lines. A sigh escaped from her lips. She grabbed a handful of her blonde hair and brought them to her nose for no reason at all as she gave a big cross on the paper. The person was obviously writing some sort of nonsense.

 

**_Question: How should Bob use the setup above to collect the data needed in the table?_ **

_ Answer: Stuff his head in the tube and boil it. _

 

She read the next one. Same thing.

 

**_Question: Using your answer in (a), describe another method for data collection that doesn't require Bob to use the bunsen burner._ **

_ Answer: Dunno. _

 

She flipped over the paper, realising that it was practically filled with stupid ridiculous answers that were uncalled for. She put a huge cross against the paper, not even reading the rest of it and flipped it back to the cover page where she wrote and circled F in her bold red pen. There was nothing she hated more than students who refused to even try. 

 

And then she spotted the name in the same cursive writing.

 

_ Cordelia Goode. _

 

The teacher stifled a laughter. Did she seriously just give herself an F? Her hands collected the rest of the papers, lumping them together as she began to tick their names against a class list. Poppy, check. Zoe, check. Kevin, check. Jason, check. Hank, check… She continued down the list until one last name was left unchecked.

 

Misty Day.

 

She pushed up her black rimmed glasses. Why did it not surprise her? Then, she was reminded that almost half the day had gone by without seeing the wild blonde in sight. She sent out a text to Karen.

 

**_Cordelia: Hey Karen, Misty's in school today? I haven't seen her around._ **

_ Karen: Yes. Sent her off today. And I don't think she would miss hockey practice for the world. U back today? _

_ Karen: Have u eaten?  _

_ Karen: Misty left her favourite hockey stick at home. M dropping in 30. Will bring your favourite soup. _

**_Cordelia: (typing...) I am back today. No I think it's-_ **

_ Karen: I will bring it. See u. _

 

Cordelia laughed. Karen had always been so concerned about feeding her. She wondered if she was doing the same for Misty as she did for her just less than a decade back. 

 

She checked the time on her phone before letting out a small sigh. Slapping the finished papers onto her forearm, Misty's paper at the top and walked out of her office in the direction of her AP Biology class. 

 

###

 

Meanwhile in class, Misty was having a hard time keeping focus. Thank god Biology was the last class for the day. 

 

Myrtle kept going on and on about something stupid. Something the wild blonde probably already knew from reading the textbook. Zoe nudged her in the rib as she felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier… Until she was almost-

 

_ WHAM! _

 

The textbook hit Misty's table, causing her to jolt awake from fear that it was her father. And then she came face to face with that goddamn fucking cat-eyed teacher. Her anger was rising though her face remained a stony expression.

 

"Misty Day! Have you even been listening to what I have been talking about for the past 20 minutes?!" the teacher's voice whistled exasperatedly. 

 

"I… Uh… I… Ya' were talkin' 'bout ta' thin'," her eyes flew around the classroom, in hopes to know what the woman was talking about, and with great luck, the teacher had written the keywords on the whiteboard, just enough to let her know that the teacher was talking about Enzyme function and structure.

 

"Ya' were talkin' 'bout ta' enzymes. 'Bout ta' lock and key hypothesis." she answered smugly, recovering quickly.

 

"Good… But if you listened, you would-"

 

"I would know what? All that ya' eva' talk about is in ta' textbook. Maybe if ya' were actually teachin' I would be listenin', won't I?" the blonde challenged the teacher. 

 

The class held back gasps. 

 

"OOOUUUTT. NOW. Ms Goode will for sure hear about your shenanigans, young lady." the teacher adjusted her glasses like a gangster would his shirt. 

 

"Yea an' what? She'll call ta' fuckin' police again? Because that's all she eva' seems ta' know how to do." the blonde snarled as she stomped out of class, not even waiting to be sent.

 

"Miss Goode will deal with you later. In the meanwhile, don't be a hater, dear." She said as she shut the classroom door. Misty pressed her forehead against the wall outside, kicking it before slumping back down onto the floor.

 

A voice she recognized as Zoe's asked if Miss Goode was back and Myrtle had said yes, as of today the blonde teacher was back. That infuriated the wild blonde even more. "Go ta' hell", she mumbled under her breath as she supported herself to get up again. She had enough of this class today.

 

Her feet paced incessantly on the concrete floor of the halls, up and down, up and down. Each time she passed the classroom, she would tilt her head up, wondering if the teacher or her classmates could hear her lingering footsteps. She wondered if she could just barge back into the classroom. Surely, she was stronger than that  _ catlady _ who's only workout ever seemed to be lifting cats and perhaps playing an instrument as weird as her.

 

"Misty?" a shocked breath came from behind her, causing the wild blonde to spin around on her sneakers, "What are you doing out here?"

 

The tall student took in the teacher. If she were any other student, Misty would've told you Cordelia looked all the same as she did almost three weeks ago. Except, she isn't any other student and she saw traces of dark circles under the teacher's eyes. Chapped lips and a thousand other things registered under Misty's hawkeyes. But when she was done, Misty gave a loud snort and continued walking down the hallway, pretending to not know Cordelia.

 

She heard the teacher's pitter-patter feet chase after her and then a second later, when she turned around but the shorter woman was standing at the classroom door, talking to someone. Myrtle. Great.

 

As though the teacher felt Misty's gaze on her, she swiftly turned her head and they locked eyes for just a split second before Cordelia turned back and said something. And all of a sudden, the head of blonde was walking towards her.

 

Not knowing how to react, Misty's feet stayed rooted to the ground. Her body turned, wanting to get away but her feet felt like they had 60 pound weights on them. The teacher continued walking in a parallel line from her and she thought the woman might just be walking past-

 

Her bubble was popped when she felt thin fingers wrap around to grab her by the elbow and she was dragged into the nearby biology lab.

 

###

 

"Misty, I'm sorry," Cordelia blurted just as they entered the laboratory. She hadn't even bothered to find them a seat along the long laboratory benches. Just her, Misty and a stack of papers standing next to door Cordelia had just pushed shut.

 

Misty kept her eyes trained on the teacher, wanting her to go on. To go on about the _ stupid  _ excuse Cordelia would have. 

 

Cordelia shifted uncomfortably under Misty's cold gaze. Putting her hands together, she wringed them before pulling them apart, unsure where to put them. "I… My mother- She- How do I… She-" the teacher stuttered, afraid to start. She paused, pursing her lips together as she gathered her thoughts. But her excuse was cut short by the impatient student.  "Forget it," Misty sneered, "I don't wanna' hear yer' sob story."

 

She felt her heart drop. 

 

Did Misty really liken her mother's cancer to a sob story?

 

She felt her face grow hot and the tips of her ear grow red. They stood in complete utter silence. Cordelia felt the lump in her throat grow with each passing second, tears forming in their crevices. And she tried hard to stop it but the tears were coming whether or not she wanted them to.

 

And the first tear escaped, falling like a golden drop onto her prominent cheekbones, bringing along with it a slight tint of peach from the blush and foundation as it followed gravity's orders, finally getting soaked up by her navy blouse.

 

Misty looked away.

 

Cordelia's tears kept coming.

 

The school bell rang like a loud shrill through both of their ears. The student's phone vibrated in her pocket.

 

Cordelia took in the moment and sniffled, "Misty, I-"

 

"Oh, ya' stop it. Ya' think some stupid sob story and crocodile tears are gonna' make me' forgive'ya? Dream on," the blonde student interrupted her again, whipping out her phone as she exited the biology lab, slamming the door loudly behind her. Cordelia jumped at the loud sound. She slowly shut her eyes as another stream of fat hot tears came pouring down, her fingers found their way to the side of the laboratory bench before clenching into a tight fist, pressing her chin downwards towards her collarbones as she shruggled not to let out a choked scream. 

 

She thought she would be okay with the insults, the emotional beating and the ignoring. 

 

But in truth, she wasn't.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Misty acting out and mistreating poor Cordelia... Hm...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Reading!

Cordelia's phone beeped. Karen had arrived, and she was at the carpark parallel to the Lanchester Halls. Sniffling, she took in a deep breath and wiped away the remnants of her tears before shuffling silently out of the biology lab.

 

Her eyes were still glossed over with tears as she approached the car that was easy to spot as it had it's trunk up. From afar, she could see Karen and Misty interacting. The curly blonde's stance told Cordelia that she was still not over it. 

 

"Hey! Cordelia, over here!" Karen waved the teacher over, causing Misty to turn around and shoot her a disgusted look. Misty huffed and tightened her grip on the hockey stick, snatching it from Karen's hands and stomping away.

 

"I'll see you at home for dinner, dear!" the foster mother shouted to the blonde that was walking away as Cordelia approached with a sad look on her face, "Cordelia!" the woman cheered as she grabbed hold of Cordelia's upper arm, bringing the teacher closer before placing a peck on her cheek. She handed the teacher a flask containing Cordelia’s favorite soup. “Cream of asparagus. Just how you like it, though I don't even know why you like this,” Karen laughed. 

 

Misty paused and watched the muted conversation from afar.

 

Karen ran her hands through the straight blonde locks before cupping Cordelia's cheek. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned. Her red eyes were a dead giveaway. 

 

The blonde teacher turned her head sideways, and she searched for Misty who disappeared behind a pillar. “It's not much. Just a rough day being back and… Well… that girl…” she whispered looking back, “How's she doing? Coping with everything.”

 

“She's doing okay. I haven't been able to grab ahold of her for a talk. But she's been shutting us out slowly. I push, yes I do. But I don't want to overdo it, Cordelia. But her aside, how are you, my dear. Has Fiona been difficult?” Karen asked the last part in a harsh whisper. She knew Cordelia wasn't about to let everyone in school know about her dirty laundry. 

 

“All the same,” Cordelia sighed, “She's going to be gone soon anyway.” There was sadness in her voice. 

 

Despite everything, Fiona was still her true mother. Sure Karen made a great mom too. But nothing was the same. 

 

“Just text me, okay sweetheart? You know I'm always here for you. And you know how near our house is from school. Drop by sometime soon, Bart would love to see his beloved daughter.” Karen smiled, her thumb sweeping across Cordelia's cheekbones to wipe away the wet tracks before giving it a quick pat. 

 

“Thank you so much, Karen. For everything,” Cordelia said, kissing the woman on the cheek. 

 

“Anything for you, my dear Cordelia. Anything for you…” Karen waved before walking backward towards the car. 

 

###

 

Misty let out a huff and walked away after she saw their interaction. From what she saw, Karen and Cordelia were rather close. 

 

A pang of jealousy hit her. Why did Cordelia have such a great mother? 

 

Her footsteps grew heavier until she finally reached the double hinged doors to the hockey rinks. Taking one last look in Cordelia's direction, she walked into the rinks, leaving her anger and thoughts outside. She had no time for that… Just as she had no time for the drama that was to come next. 

 

“Misty Day, rink 1, NOW,” her coach yelled to her as soon as she entered. Jeez, she hadn't even changed yet. “Misty, NOW, please.” Her coach said firmly again, allowing Misty to jog promptly to the outside of the rinks. 

 

Everyone from both the teams were gathered there. That was weird. Coach Tyler rarely ever met both genders together. "It has come to my attention that some of my team members are fucking each other," he mercilessly clipped. There was a rule about no sex in school. "The janitor found a used condom in the male locker room." And there was another rule about not being in the opposite sex locker room. Double whammy.

 

Misty scanned worried faces in the crowd.

 

"So which one of you were fucking each other?" he finally sighed, coming to the point, "I don't want to have to inform the headmaster. This is not the level of discipline I am expecting from my players. Especially my junior and senior varsity players. You guys are my stars. But this is… Appalling." His hands crossed in front of his puffed out chest. Like Misty, both eyes scanned the crowd for guilty faces.

 

No one was coming forward to confess. 

 

A stifling minute passed.

 

"Very well," he continued while Misty's hawkeyes noticed Zoe shifting uncomfortably next to Kyle. Too close to Kyle, she thought. "We will not be practicing in the rink today," groans erupted from the players, "No practicing in the rink until someone confesses. Everyone gather in the track now. Ten rounds around the track and then the usual field warm up, three times. Report to me when you're done."

 

Misty looked at her favorite stick in her hands and sighed heavily. 

 

###

 

By the time they were done, all of the players were well on their way into their graves. Most of them panted heavily as they approached their coach. A couple were still on their last round of lunges. Misty steadied her breath, holding in alternate ones to keep them at a slower pace. Her flyaways were matted down to frame her face. 

 

A few minutes later, the players were finally all gathered up. 

 

"So?" Coach asked harshly.

 

Silence was heard.

 

He shook his head, "Tomorrow, same time, same place. Get some rest; it looks like it's going to be a long week ahead. The headmaster is going to have to know about this now since no one is coming forth." And he trudged away, looking disappointed.

 

Finally having recovered slightly from the intense training, Misty approached Kyle and Zoe who were leaning on each other for support.

 

“Ya’ two. Garden in 10.” Misty said as she walked past them, looking for Madison who was still at her cheerleading practice. 

 

As soon as she had gathered up her friend, they headed over to the round garden, just one of many in the school. The wild blonde spotted the place where Cordelia found her shivering one night. That night changed her entire life. 

 

She shook the thought away. 

 

_ One at a time, _ she told herself. _ One at a time.  _

 

###

 

“What did you want, Mist?” Zoe asked all too innocently.  

 

“It was ya’. Ya’ an’ Kyle. I didn't know yer’ were a thin’ together?” Misty started by stating the obvious. Madison was just confused, “Wait, what's happening?” She asked. 

 

“Coach found a condom in ta’-”

 

“What the fuck?!” Madison spilled out, “You two are a thing?” Madison covered her mouth in shock, "Good God, you two are at it?"

 

Zoe was mortified. Right now, she just wanted the earth to open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Her entire face turned beet red before hiding the remaining of it in Kyle's shoulders. Kyle simply blushed.

 

Misty crossed her arms in front of her and let out a small chuckle. "Yer' gotta' let Coach know," she said, licking her chapped lips from the dehydration. She was still sweating slightly from the intense training session. 

 

The petite brunette shook her head in Kyle's shoulders, his arms wrapping around her back. "We can't… You know how Zo's mom is. She's going to be grounded forever, and I am going to be murdered," Kyle's deep voice came through. 

 

It was true. Zoe's mother was a total ass when it came to her daughter. If she found out, Kyle's head would be hanging off of the lamp post somewhere in town sometime tomorrow, and Zoe would probably live the rest of her life in a convent.

 

"So what're yer' gonna do now?" Misty nodded at the information. 

 

"Coach will probably let it go soon. We'll just have to ride it out… And die in the meanwhile," Kyle laughed pathetically. Madison cackled, "You two should do it at Kyle's next time."

 

And Zoe blushed even more.

 

###

 

The next two days passed way too quickly to Misty's dismay. Yesterday's training was even more intense than the one before, and it seemed like Coach Tyler was not going to let this one go just as fast… She checked the time on her watch. Biology class today was the last one again, and it was just about… Now. She clipped off her blade guards and slipped onto the ice easily. Biology was going to be a waste of time. Besides, who cared if she skipped? Cordelia could go fuck herself.

 

The curly blonde chuckled. Maybe it was Cordelia and the coach who were doin' it in the locker rooms. She raised her hockey stick and hit the puck that went flying into the opposite side of the rink. 

 

She skated over swiftly and hit the puck again.

 

To and fro she went, hitting it time and again, scoring for no one but herself.

 

She hadn't been in the rinks for what seemed like forever now. And she was starting to get restless about playing. What if they don't make it for the championship again today?

 

As she removed her cage helmet, the rest of her hair came flowing out like a knight in shining armor. Her elbows found their way to the side of the rinks, and she rested her chin, taking in a deep breath. She was tired. Tired of Cordelia's nagging, tired of Coach Tyler's yelling and mostly, tired. Literally tired. Between everything that was happening, her nights had grown shorter and her eyes were bleary from the lack of sleep. Sometimes, she'd just stay awake and think about Pa. But usually Ma was the one in her dreams, and she'd wake up panting, reaching out for her before she can disappear again like every time.

 

She rechecked the time. 3 minutes to the end of this period.

 

With her lips quivering, she reached behind her neck to tie her hair up, taking large strides across the ice, hoping the movement would stop the tears from coming. A sniffle and then a choke before she glided back over to grab her helmet.

 

_ A deep breath. _

 

There was no point in crying.

 

###

 

As soon as she was done trading her hockey blades for running shoes, she proceeded out of the rinks and onto the nearby track area where she spotted Cordelia heading her way. God, she did not need that woman right now. 

 

"Misty, where have you been? My class was last period." the demand came before Cordelia had even reached Misty. 

 

Misty narrowed her eyes at the woman and continued walking further away to put her duffle bag onto one of the benches in front of the grandstand. "Misty, I'm asking you, where have you been?" the teacher asked again, harder this time.

 

"Cordelia, where have yer' been? I was tryna' open up ta' yer' an' where the _ fuck  _ did yer' go?" the curly blonde mimicked her teacher's first question. 

 

The straight blonde teacher stopped in her tracks, taken aback by the question. "Misty-" she said in a punctuated tone, "I never meant for that to happen. My mother- She- The care facility she was in, they called me, and it was- My mother has cancer." Suddenly, Cordelia felt like she was just coming up with excuses to appease Misty despite the truth in her words.

 

Misty bit back her tongue from saying something witty. She had been so selfish lately. Of course, her teacher's family came before her. Who was she? Just another student. Her own mother died of cancer. She should know well enough that she would want to spend every last second with her own mother. How ironic. She wanted to say something, but her voice was caught in her throat.

 

Unable to digest the information, she ran.

 

"Misty! Please just listen to me..." Cordelia's voice trailed after the wild blonde, but she was gone.

 

###

 

Misty arrived at the meetup area, already panting from the quick sprint away from her problems. "Looks like your captain has already gotten a head start on training," Coach sassed, "Okay, now, does anyone want to come clean?"

 

Silence.

 

"Okay, double that of yesterday. Own time own target, carry on." 

 

The teams growled. Whoever the couple was, they deserved to die now. Misty put on a blank face and started her lunges across the 100-meter track.

 

Cordelia quietly watched Misty from the stands. When the wild blonde started her third round of running, the teacher approached the hockey coach. "Tyler!" she cheered, placing her hands on his shoulders as he watched over his players.

 

"Hey Cords, how are you doing? Seniors are causing you a lot of trouble since you've come back?" he winked at her. Seeing as she was the year head of the seniors, she had heard about the condom incident from the headmaster who had called an urgent meeting with them. 

 

She nodded and threw her head back as she laughed. "No one's owning up?" 

 

"Nope. Still going strong but I'll get it out of them," he said confidently, turning back to the players. Their muscles were probably burning from the previous two days. Just as he was about to turn back to Cordelia, they both spotted a commotion going on between Kyle and Misty in the middle of the field. Both teacher and coach were going to walk over, but instead, Misty did them one up and marched over.

 

"It was me, Coach. Let 'em go an' yer' can call Karen an' all," she announced as she reached a meter away. The whole team had stopped what they were doing to watch the adults' reaction to the confession. 

 

Coach Tyler's mouth was frozen wide open in an oval shape. Never in a million years did he think it would be his captain. 

 

"Yer' said yer' would let 'em go if someone confessed. I confessed so now yer' let 'em go home," she fussed, becoming slightly impatient. Her hand found an itch in her ear and scratched it roughly.

 

"Okay… Um… It looks like the person has-" Coach began before Cordelia interrupted him, looking carefully into Misty's nonchalant eyes, "Who was it with? If you said you did it, then who was it with." 

 

"None of ya' business," Misty shot her a look before gesturing for her coach to continue. She averted Cordelia's hard eyes.

 

Cordelia pulled Misty by the arm and spun her around harshly, "It is  _ my _ business. I'm your teacher. Do you know how upset Karen and Bart are going to feel about this?"

 

Misty felt numb. "So? I'm almost eighteen. I'm allowed ta' do what I want."

 

"Who made you do it?!" Cordelia bellowed as she lost her bearings, causing Coach Tyler to have to stop the teacher from pouncing on the wild blonde. "The rest of you stop staring and head home. See you in the rinks tomorrow. Goodbye." he shooed the growing crowd away, leaving Misty and Cordelia on either side of his hands like a referee and two opposing players.

 

"Misty, wash up and go to my office. Cords you have to call the headmaster, and we will meet in his office later. I will bring Misty along," he affirmed, giving Cordelia a pat on her back.

 

Misty's stony expression remained as she walked away into the locker rooms.

 

"It's not Misty, Tyler. I'm telling you it's not her." Cordelia declared as soon as the hockey player was out of earshot, "I swear… She's not like that..." she said, exasperated. Why in the world was Misty acting like that?

 

The burly coach nodded firmly, "I know, Cords, I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Misty still as angsty as ever but at least she did it for the team and her friends? Don't worry, she won't be getting expelled or anything since the teachers kinda figured out that she's not the one.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Reading!

Misty stepped out of the steamy shower, wet hair still dripping. She hadn't even made it 5 steps to the exit before she was confronted by Zoe and Madison.

 

The cheerleader stood in the way, holding her hand out to prevent the taller blonde from moving forward, "Misty, what the  _ fuck _ did you just get yourself into?!" the shorter blonde beat Zoe to throwing the first confrontation, "What in the world were you thinking?!"

 

"I was thinkin' 'bout ta' team an' ma' friends," Misty replied cooly. There was nothing to be afraid of, besides, if she didn't step up, they would still be doing rounds around the field like hamsters on a wheel. Someone had to come clean. And if Kyle and Zoe couldn't, that's alright.

 

Madison huffed out loudly, "You're in so much trouble."

 

"Not like I haven't been in this much _ shit _ before, Mads," the tall student rolled her eyes, seriously, they were overreacting. 

 

"Argh! Zoe, say something?!" Madison elbowed the brunnette deeply, causing her to yelp out in pain. "There's nothing to say! What am I going to say! I was the one that got her in this. There's nothing to say!" Zoe exclaimed exasperatedly, "Kyle tried to stop her!"

 

Misty grabbed onto Madison's hand, pulling her close before spinning them around so she was on the other side of the door now, letting out a chuckle as her friends jogged to keep up with her large strides to the benches in the locker rooms. "Nah, ain't ya' fault, Zo. If it were anyone else, I woulda' done ta' same thin'. Just thinkin' 'bout ta' team. We needed ta' get this over an' done with so we could continue trainin'  _ in ta' rink _ . Not just doin' hamster wheel exercises."

 

"But still?!" Madison nagged. Misty stopped abruptly, causing the other two to subsequently bump into her, Madison letting out a high pitch squeal. 

 

They let out laughter, Misty finally saying, "I'll be fine, ya' two. Just… Thank'ya fo' bein' so concerned 'bout me." She let a genuine smile grace her lips. Oh, what would she do without them…

 

"It's no problem, dopey. We look out for one another. I hope Miss Uptight doesn't give you a hard time," Madison gave Misty a pat on shoulder. Zoe looking especially apologetic. The hockey captain shot her a look, "Zo, come on. We look out fo' one another. I'mma doin' jus' that fo' yer'. Yer' woulda' done ta' same thin' fo' me."

 

"But..." Zoe tried to protest. 

 

Misty smiled. "No buts, ya' butthead. Come'on. Don't think ma' interrogators will be all ta' kind with their verdicts if I arrived any later!" 

 

###

 

She knocked on the office door gently. There was no creaking on this one when it was being pushed open. 

 

"Misty, good you're here. Take a seat," he gestured to the chair in front of the desk but Misty remained standing anyway. She knew they were going to go to the headmaster's office.

 

The coach sighed, looking up at the curly blonde. His hands ran over the light stubble on his chin, stroking it gently before settling on the question, "It wasn't you, was it?"

 

Misty shook, "It was me, sir. It was all me."

 

"Misty-," his face fell, "I don't want you to be taking the blame for someone else. Whoever it was, you shouldn't be protecting them. I- Misty… I don't..." he was at a loss of words to say to the wild blonde, "You know you're not doing anyone good by taking the fall for this, right? You're going to get punished for something you didn't do. And it's not going to be light."

 

Misty forced a slight smile, "I know sir, that's why I am finally stepping up. I was scared at first. But now I'm not. I should take responsibility for _ my _ actions."

 

"Very well, let us make our way there then," he said suddenly, all business like, any form of gentleness washed away by the stern tone.

 

###

 

The room was silent apart from Cordelia's occasional shoe tapping. 

 

It was a conference room that the faculty usually used to hold important meetings. The room was had a corporate tastefulness to it with it's beige walls and high swivel chairs. But to Misty, it felt like she was a dangerous criminal being put on trial, and the jury was out. Apart from the informal wear, everything felt like being in a courtroom. 

 

She felt her nerves get to her.

 

Then again, she'd been here many times before. 

 

"It has come to our attention that Miss Day here, has committed some serious breaching of school rules," the headmaster began as soon as everyone had settled down. There were about 6 odd teachers and staff in there. Coach Tyler, the Headmaster, Cordelia, the head of discipline and two other administrative staffs. 

 

The headmaster looked at the teachers and then the coach. Misty wondered where they were going from here. 

 

"Misty, do you not have anything to say?" Cordelia finally asked as she leaned forward from her chair, narrowing the distance between herself and Misty who sat across. 

 

The hockey player leaned back, the back of the chair bouncing slightly, "No." 

 

"Misty, why are you-" Cordelia cried out. The headmaster interrupted her, "Miss Cordelia, let her be." And she cut right back, "No! I will not let her be. She's taking the blame for no reason at all!" her eyes locked with the curly blonde's, "Misty, you-"

 

" _ Cordelia _ ," the headmaster repeated, "If you were to just look at her track record. It was clearly she who did it. She's broken every rule in the book except this one. Obviously-"

 

"Mr  _ Whitley _ ," the blonde teacher interrupted with the same clipped tone, "If you're so sure Misty did it, then why don't you ask her who it was with? Why is she the only one taking the blame? Where's the boy? WHERE IS HE?!" she let her angry fist thump onto the table, causing the panel to jolt in their seats, "Let me remind you that this took two hands to clap. So, if you're so sure. The boy should be punished too."

 

The tension in the air kept on rising by the second. " _ Miss Goode _ ," Misty was the one who spoke sharply now, "I'mma gonna tell yer' ta' stop with yer' fake concernin'. Ta' whole act is gettin' borin'. An' I am positive it was me. I'm _ sayin' _ it is  _ me _ . So stop yer' arguing. Stop defending me. It was me an' I will take the punishment, I'll take it on gladly. So yer'... Please. Stop it. I don't need yer' pity. I don't need any of yours."

 

Everyone was stunned by the student's sudden revelation. 

 

And the curly blonde took the chance to relieve herself from the situation, slinging her backpack over her shoulders as she swaggered towards the door. 

 

When she pulled the door open, the sight of Karen and Bart sitting outside alarmed her. The foster parents stood up immediately. "Yer' called 'em?!" she turned back to shout at the teacher, "I shoulda' known. That's what ya' do best; reportin' me. Why don't ya' call ta' police? Get a restrainin' order against me while yer're at it."

 

Cordelia cowered slightly at Misty's outburst. Coach Tyler opened his mouth to tell his star player off but she was already out of sight.

 

Karen ran after Misty, leaving Bart to attend the meeting in place of her. 

 

After a quick jog, she finally caught up with the wild blonde outside of the halls and held onto her forearm. “Misty… I won't have you drive home this angry. Wait in the car for Bart and I. I'll try to make it quick,” she passed the keys over to the student who was panting heavily, “Please.” She added. 

 

The curly captain huffed but grabbed the dangling keys and headed for the parking lot anyway.

 

“Thank you,” Karen called gratefully after the student before running back into the building. 

 

###

 

The car ride home was silent apart from the occasional coughing.

 

"Misty, are you sick?" Bart asked tenderly as he looked at the troubled wild blonde through the read mirror. 

 

Misty cleared her throat. "Nah, ta' cough's been here fo' quite some time now. Ta' weather, probably," she guessed, shrugging her shoulders. Not one word about the meeting had been mentioned since they left the school gates. 

 

"Wear a thicker jacket," he put simply. Another turn and they were in the garage. He pulled the crank gear up, halting. A silent moment was received before headlights from the car behind shined in. Karen had driven Misty's car home, not wanting to leave it in school.

 

The car door unlocked and Misty clambered out of the SUV clumsily, towing her large bag of equipment. Before she could steady herself, she felt her stomach flip, and the world seemed to turn laterally. She had tripped on those damn shoelaces again. Her hands were outstretched to brace herself from the fall but a hand quickly caught her, pulling her upright.

 

"You alright? You should really tie those shoelaces," a lisp was evident in her savior's short speech.

 

Brown eyes shone reflectively in the rapidly setting sun, a contrast to the pale skin surrounding it. Plump lips, a freckled neck. 

 

Cordelia.

 

"What are yer' doin' here?" she hissed, pulling her hand away from the teacher's grasp.

 

"Honey, don't be so rude. I invited her over for dinner," Karen approached, sensing a rising argument. 

 

"Don't tell me that I'm rude. You're not my mother," Misty put across at ease before realising how hurting that was. Karen tried to maintain a straight face but the effort was all futile. She let out an audible sigh. The redhead didn't want to fight this. Today had enough conflict in itself and she didn't need another one right now. 

 

Without another word, she walked into the house.

 

Cordelia's heart ached for her foster mother. _ Their _ foster mother. 

 

###

 

Things were… Pretty awkward at the dinner table.

 

A creak. Misty pulled one leg onto her chair. The clinking of metal on china punctuated the air of silence unceremoniously. A cough. Misty turned her head sideways from the dinner table. Another spluttering cough.

 

"Misty are you sure you don't want to take some cough syrup after dinner?" Bart said between bites of Gefilte fish. The curly blonde speared the side salad with her fork, "No."

 

Cordelia looked up from her plate, her wrists resting on the edge of the classy glass table and eyed Karen. The redhead asked, "Why? Does she have a cough?" Her question directed at Bart but she did not wait for him to reply. Instead, she went on, "How long have you had a cough, sweetie?"

 

"Two days," the raspy voice was muffled by her food, "From Madison."

 

"From what?" The redhead leaned closer across the table and waited for the curly blonde to repeat her answer. Misty opened her mouth slightly before quickly closing it to chew again. She reached her hand across her plate for the glass of water. Two big gulps. Another cough. 

 

"Madison," Cordelia spoke, "Madison has a cough too. Zoe… I think Zoe has-"

 

"Can ya' stop bein' so..." Misty trailed as she licked her teeth with her mouth closed, ridding it of any green vegetables that may be stuck, "So annoyin'. Yer' act like ya' know me an' all."

 

Cordelia listened to the calm accusation, bewildered. "Misty, I don't mean it that way?" Her fingers wrapped white around her knife and fork. The hockey captain continued to stare coldly at the teacher. She had no intention to reply the teacher what so ever. There was no need for that. Cordelia should know she was annoying  _ for fuck's sake _ .

 

The shorter blonde's face fell.

 

She put the knife down gently but her other hand still held tightly onto her fork, "Can you please explain what you mean by that?" She tried to ask nicely but her patience was wearing off. 

 

"Hey, you girls done? Let's go-" Karen tried to stop the impending storm.

 

"No, I want to hear why  _ she  _ hates me," Cordelia used her fork to point at the student, her eyes were suddenly dark, "Tell me. Haven't I apologised enough? Payed for my sins if you put it that way." her words were slammed out in quick clips.

 

She's had enough of this. If Misty was out for her, sure be it. But hurting Karen like this? Thinking being rebellious is some sort of joke. No, she was not going to let the student get away with this. 

 

Misty could feel the hateful disdain in her teacher's glare. They had come to an impasse. 

 

But she tried Cordelia's boundaries anyway, "All yer' ever have are sob stories. Yer' think yer' are like me? Ya' aren't." The tension in the air had no intention to stop rising. It was overflowing. "Ta' way I see it, ya' are one fuckin'-" She didn't bother to complete her sentence. The chair threatened to leave scars across the hardwood floor as Misty forcefully pushed it back with her knees, standing up.

 

The napkins she found on the table took the grunt of her anger as she wiped it across her chin and lips. With two hands, she entangled them within her curly hair to hook them behind her ears. "Ya'," she started again, her mind frantically searching find the correct words. But there were none because in truth, she did not hate Cordelia. She did not.

 

She stomped away from the dining table, all ready to stop this ongoing war she started. Her footsteps up the stairs could be heard all the way from the dining area where Bart still sat. Cordelia took two steps at a time after the wild blonde.

 

The taller blonde looked at the teacher who stood at the doorstep of her room. She wanted to slam that door in the teacher's face right then but she had a childish point to prove and she was not about to back down. 

 

And Karen chose a really bad time to interject. "Girls, please stop."

 

In a snap, Misty had locked down her target as Karen instead of Cordelia.

 

"Ya' ain't my mother," Misty repeated for the second time in the hour, "Ya' have no right ta' tell me ta' stop. Ya' are some pity old hag who's only dream was ta' have children an' God wouldn't give ya' some so ya' take other people's children ta' raise but ya' ain't their mother. Ya' never will-"

 

"That's _ enough _ ," Cordelia raged. The sternness in the teacher's voice caught Misty off guard. The student had been pressing all the buttons. And this was it. She's finally pressed all the right ones. Standing in the middle of her bedroom, she refused to turn behind to look at Cordelia. 

 

"Cords, it's fine," Karen stated quietly.

 

"No, it's not," the shorter blonde defended, "You have no right to speak to Karen like that. She's your- She's our foster mother whether you like it or not. And you need to learn how to show some respect. I am nothing like you all right, but- You think you have it bad, Misty?" the anger in Cordelia's voice was evident, each sentence rang shriller than the one before as she continued, "When did your father start abusing you? When you were what, thirteen? At least you were old enough to fight back. My mother single handedly broke my humerus when I was five. Two of my front teeth are fake and the metal plate in my lower jaw still gets a sympathetic smile from the lady at airport security. My shins hurt whenever it's going to rain. So you've got to stop, Misty. Your pathetic little story? That's just the tip of the iceberg compared to the rest of us." 

 

The minute her confession hit Misty, Cordelia wanted to take it all back. She shouldn't have said that. Every abuse  _ was  _ abuse. No matter how bad, how long, it was still abuse, little or large. "Misty-" she paused, waiting for the wild blonde to react to her harsh words. "Misty, oh god, I didn't mean that-" she coughed out. 

 

As soon as Cordelia's apologies came to a halt, the quietness settled uneasily around them. Each word of Cordelia's hit her like separate trains going at full speed. Her mind ran in circles trying to fathom what had just hit her but her first reaction was to cry. The curly blonde continued standing like a statue, unfeeling as hot, fat and heavy tears burst from her eyes to trail down her cheeks. There was something so ugly about crying. 

 

Cordelia saw Misty's shoulders quake with a sob that came from so deep within. 

 

They stood there in wretched silence apart from Misty's desolate sobs. Karen approached the tall blonde, wrapping a hand around broad shoulders. Misty did not even fight the hug. Now it was Cordelia who had hit all the right buttons. Another agonizing minute passed, Cordelia didn't know what to do and she simply stood there, wishing away what she had just said. Misty reduced her crying into soft whimpers and she slowly wriggled out of the redhead's embrace, the carpet floor muffling her heavy steps as she opened the closet softly.

 

Her glazed eyes searched blindly for the crewneck she had dumped somewhere. Her fingers dug into the fabric, a death grip. 

 

Cordelia could see red swollen eyes as the student approached her.

 

"Finally," Misty cried out as though she was relieved. Her heavy breath was audible, "Finally ya' said what ya' always thought. Take yer' filthy hoodie back. I don't want it." Her hands threw the Columbia hoodie square in the teacher's chest. 

 

And the door slammed loudly in Cordelia's face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I purposefully left out the part where Karen n Bart spoke to the headmaster so don't worry about the missing part. It was pop up somewhere in the next few chapters when relevant. But judging from Karen and Bart's reaction can you guys kinda already guess what was said? Heh, alright! Hope you guys liked this!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Reading! TW: Self harm

“Misty,” Karen’s words came out in a whisper, “You sure you're okay to go back to school today?” 

 

The wild blonde’s hair shone golden in the sunrise. Her eyes followed each tree as their car sped by. The view was scenic but there wasn't much to it. Just green fading into orange, wispy leaves falling from dark branches. Overnight, everything seemed to have changed. It was finally mid-fall. 

 

“Yea,” she mumbled, bringing her long sleeves up to her nose. Traces of her swollen eyes were long gone and only the faded blank space remained to be filled between them. 

 

She felt weak all over. Yesterday had spent the last of her emotional strength and today, she felt like a deflated balloon. Crying was exhausting.

 

“I'll be picking you up at 6?” The foster mum asked but received no reply. 

 

###

 

Recess was in order for everyone except for a particular wild blonde…

 

She headed for the locker rooms, this time not to practice but to pay off her detention. 

 

"This is just plain stupid," Madison yelled as she joined the curly blonde and her brunette friend. Misty held a water bucket in one hand and a dirty rag in the other.

 

Misty sighed, "It's not a punishment if it ain't stupid." She felt too tired to fight this. There was nothing to fight about anyway. She wanted to get this done and over with as quickly as possible. 

 

"I got you a sandwich for when you are done," Zoe raised the triangular plastic container.

 

" _ If _ I ever get done," The varsity captain shot the shorter brunette a look, raising her lips in a sad fashion before thumping the bucket onto the floor. Her detention:  Scrubbing the locker rooms spotless. 

 

It was already considered a light punishment considering how "having sex" in school was high on the "god fucking no" list in the headmaster's mind. She couldn't figure out what exactly had happened between the adults after she had left the room in spite. Still no talk from Karen or Bart. 

 

“We'll see you later at the end of freep,” Madison clapped her hands once together. 

 

“Sorry,” Zoe mouthed before getting dragged away by her shorter blonde friend. 

 

Misty grimaced. 

 

###

 

Her hands dipped the dirt cloth into the bucket, slapping it dripping wet on the floor before using her leg to move it around in a sloppy manner. 

 

Wild curls bobbed to the time of Stop Draggin' My Heart Around being blasted into her ears. Her feet tapped rhythmically on the concrete floor but a smile was absent from her face.

 

She bent over to pick it up again, aiming it for the bucket before it made a splashy entrance, dirtying the rest of the floor. The wild blonde rolled her shoulders upward. It ached slightly. Her hands have been working tirelessly for the past 2 periods, recess and free doing this… Useless job. She reached up to give them a quick massage, relieving the pain slightly but it didn't quite go away. 

 

Reaching down again, she continued the repetitive motion, pursing her lips together, borderline bored until the next song came on. 

 

Just as she reached down to pick up the cloth, a foot came into her downwards casted eyes.

 

At first she thought it was Cordelia coming to kiss her ass again but Cordelia didn't wear Vans sneakers. In fact, she didn't know anyone who did. 

 

Her eyes drew upwards to meet the boy towering over her. 

 

Hank Foxx. 

 

Of course. 

 

Hank was part of the boys varsity team. He never liked her. No, that was an understatement. He hated her. 

 

The boy had never been on good terms with them but they never had anything against him. The feeling only became mutual when Hank and Kyle were after the same leadership position, Head Captain of boys varsity. 

 

One day, Misty found Hank threatening the junior team to vote for him or he would physically beat them up thus disallowing them from playing in the upcoming game. Well, let's just say Misty beat him up so badly Hank was the one that couldn't play (or have sex) for that matter. Double whammy.

 

“Hey stupid,” he called, his gang of little minions laughing behind him. 

 

“Ya’ callin’ yer’self?” She gave a false laugh back, rolling her eyes. 

 

“Don't be a smart mouth,” he snorted back, “Who’s the one doing detention, asshole.”

 

The wild blonde glared at him. 

 

He smiled smugly. “Who knew, who knew,” he circled her like a culture waiting on its prey. “Who knew what?” She asked firmly. 

 

“Who knew a fucking DYKE could fuck a dude, LMAO,” laughter erupted again, “Only the idiot teachers wouldn't know because Miss Misty Day right here is straight to them. So tell me, Miss Day,” he mocked the girl, “Tell me who you told them you were fucking. I'm sure they asked.”

 

She kept her mouth pursed. Her forehead creased. 

 

“Oh, no. Secret’s out, baby,” he siezed her iPhone from the back of her jeans pocket, ripping the earphone wires out as he surfed through her notifications. 

 

Her hands became outstretched as she seeked to snatch her phone out of his hands. Unfortunately for her, her lanky height was of no help for he still towered over her even as she stood at her full height. 

 

“Give it back, ya’ bastard,” she cursed. 

 

“New message from  _ +1 (203) 729323 _ : Where are you? Can we talk?” He read out the text loud and clear to his other friends who were preventing Misty from getting near their leader, “Who's this? Your girlfriend?” Sarcasm dripped from his comment. 

 

"Hey! Ya' stop it!" Blue eyes turned dark with anger. She figured that the number was Cordelia’s for she had just deleted it the previous night. Her hands flailed around in an attempt to hit him but she was quickly subdued by the other boys. 

 

"Brb. I'm sucking someone's pussy," he yelled, not knowing any better as he typed it out as a reply to the teacher and Misty couldn't help but feel her stomach flip inside of her. 

 

Angry tears sprung forth as she yelled helplessly at her bully. She wanted so badly to hit him right now but it was four against one and she had the short end of the stick. “Aw, what a crybaby,” he taunted, throwing her iPhone on the floor in front of her before walking away. He had failed to notice that the Cajun was never one to cry in front of anyone. But these days, crying felt like a habit more than ever. Her first reaction to anything were the very tears running down her face right now.

 

She was let go in a rough manner and pushed to the floor by two of the boys before they joined Hank. “By the way, you fuck with me again and the truth will be out. I know it’s Zoe and Kyle fucking. _ And _ I've got the audio for evidence. Ginger beer you're fucking queer. Even the headmaster's dick won't turn you straight."

 

Hairy hands pressed play on his phone, revealing an impossibly explicit audio he had kept in his phone. "Uhhh," A girl's voice moaned, "Mmmm Kyle." And those were the only two phrases needed to confirm that it was indeed the brunette. Misty stared in shock while Hank titled his head tilted back in roaring laughter.

 

The female captain quickly picked up her phone from the floor, checking if there were any cracks on it. A couple of tears dripped down onto the hardwood floor. They watched her with weary eyes as she made her way silently to the bucket but instead of picking it up and throwing it at them, she lifted it and headed for the bathroom. 

 

Her free hand wiped at her leaky nose furiously. Tears kept running furiously down her blank face but there was no sound to her weeping. None at all.

 

She splashed cold water onto her sticky hot face, washing away her signature mascara with it, black streaks running down the white ceramic sink. 

 

Her sadness felt silly once again. Short nails gripped tightly in her jeans and she could feel the redness from the pressure leaving telling lines on her thigh. She sniffled heavily, trying to keep her crying in check but it wasn't stopping. It felt like last night all over again, just that this time, it felt like… It felt like a dull throb instead. 

 

_ A dyke! _ It was true. That was what she was. Why did Hank hate her so much? It wasn't just because she kicked him in his balls. It was because after she did, she kissed his then girlfriend… And… Well, things happened.  _ Why did she have to do that?! _ She asked herself. 

 

Now, all her pent up anger against Cordelia, against Hank, against her Pa, they all gathered and seemed to point daggers at her. She was the cause for all of this. Why couldn't she just be _ happy _ ?! More tears trailed down her flushed cheeks.  _ Why are you so weak! _ She yelled in her head. 

 

She hung her head low. The gloom in her heart felt never ending and the tiredness never seemed to go away. What Cordelia said was right.  _ Who was she? _ Nothing but a pathetic piece of shit. No Ma, no Pa, no home. There was nothing to her name. A pathetic little orphan child. God, she wasn't even little anymore. 

 

But no. She was useless, yes. But she wasn't going to let Zoe and Kyle go down, not after everything they had done for her.

 

She splashed a hurting amount of cold water onto her face before pulled the door open, slamming it against the porcelain wall tiles. 

 

"Hank, what do ya' want," she sneered. Deep set eyes narrowed and she used her long sleeve to wipe at her wet face.

 

He seemed surprised, raising his eyebrows, "What do you mean what do I want?"

 

"What will it take for ya' ta' delete ta'-" she was marching towards him now.

 

He jumped up from the locker room bench, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who says I'm going to delete it." The grip on his phone tightened before he apprehensively tucked it into his pocket. 

 

"I..." she stuttered finding a reason, "I'll do anything." 

 

"You'll fuck Kyle?"

 

"Hell fuckin' no," she shot back immediately, she didn't even need to think through that one. 

 

"I thought you said you'll do anything," he sported a sly smile on his face.

 

"Well, no. I'm tryna' make things better. Not worse. Choose somethin' else." Her sneakers tapped impatiently on the floor, fingers drumming against her thighs nervously. 

 

"Maybe you should've thought twice before fucking  _ my _ girlfriend."

 

"She never liked you." the wild blonde shrugged simply. She sniffled deeply again, her eyes were dry now though.

 

His brown eyes flashed with slight anger before he acted hurt, "I thought you were supposed to be begging me..." he trailed, bringing his hands to pinch his chin in deep contemplation, "But since you're such a nice little chap, I accept your offer. Do my homework from now till finals and let me cheat off of you for the 3 classes we take."

 

"Fine." she agreed grudgingly. It was the least she could do for Zoe and Kyle. After all they had put up with  _ her _ shit. Her mess of a life.

 

"Fine." she confirmed again to herself, stopping the searing in her lungs as she let out a breath. Her bottom lip trembled, at the verge of crying again. What had she just done.

 

"Fine what?" a delicate voice caused them to look behind at the godly silhouette standing in the light at the swinging doors. She stepped forth into the unlit room, giving them a clear view of her prominent cheekbones. 

 

Hank and his friends scampered away. The wild blonde checked her watch. It was almost the end of her free period. And the blue eyed girl simply floated past the teacher she couldn't bear to look at.

 

###

 

Just her luck, she had Cordelia's lesson after her free which also marked the last lesson of the day. Worst of all, they had moved on to the laboratory after 2 months of lessons. The topic of today? Well...

 

Misty took her seat on a bench in the third row beside Zoe who was frantically flipping through her textbook. "I haven't read up about today's lab," she confessed, looking up into blue eyes, "Were you just crying? What's-"

 

"Neither have I," Misty cut back, referring to not reading the textbook. Her face was void of any expression and she didn't really want to talk about it. "What's ta' topic about?" She hadn't even bothered to bring her book today, so she leaned over her friend's shoulders to look at the page that showed a pig.

 

Zoe stared at her friend weirdly, "Misty, look at me-"

 

"Oh, fuck no," the curly blonde leaned away, "No, no, no…"

 

Just as the words came out of the wild blonde's mouth, Cordelia arrived in class holding a stack of practical papers and set them onto the teacher's bench, washing her hands thoroughly. The teacher gently tried to make eye contact with Misty and they did just for a split second before the taller blonde broke her gaze when the headmaster walked in.

 

“Good afternoon class. Lovely to see that all of you are in class on time today. Mr. Whitley will be sitting in on our lesson today. Since it is our first lab of the year so I'd like to go through some ground rules first……” 

 

The teacher’s voice faded away into the background as Misty ran her hand helplessly through her weave of hair. 

 

“…… Fetal pig dissection. Can I just see how many of you will be uncomfortable with this?” 

 

Only one hand shot up into the air. 

 

“Misty, you want to say something?” The blonde teacher queried gently.

 

“I'm not comfortable with ta’ dissection. Excuse me.” her stool screeched across the floor banging into the bench behind.

 

"Miss Day, you  _ stop _ right there," the headmaster commanded, "I will  _ not _ have you miss another one of your lessons."

 

Cordelia wanted to protest but again, she figured the wild blonde was just trying to get out of her lesson once again and decided not to. Either way, Misty stalked back over to her stool, silently sitting down. "You will do as Miss Cordelia see fit."

 

The wild blonde sat back down on her seat, fingers pinching each other as she looked around nervously. 

 

“We’ll be doing this in pairs, so can I have the person on the left to go ahead and take the trays of pigs from my front bench. The rest of you can get ready your instruments.”

 

Misty went up and received the tray from the teacher who looked slightly worried. 

 

"I really don't want ta’ do this," Misty whispered to her friend when she placed the tray on their bench, her eyes glazed over with tears that went unnoticed by the adults. 

 

“I know. I'll do it instead. Don't you even dare touch the blades, Mist. You know what'll happen. Just act like you're doing something,” Zoe whispered back. They both knew why Misty didn't want to do this. 

 

It happened in freshman year when Misty was at her lowest, still reeling in from her mother's death that had happened in the past year. The wild blonde's eyes darted around wildly, looking for a distraction as she sank deeper into her past. 

 

_ (Flashback to freshman year) _

 

_ They were dissecting frogs today and she really didn't want to do it. She didn't want to kill an innocent animal, she explained to her teacher. And she already had a dead mother, she didn't need one more dead thing in her life. _

 

_ "But it's already dead. Let's make the best out of its life," Mr. Killney brought her hand to grab the sharp blade.  _

 

_ Her forehead creased with worry. _

 

_ "Ow!" Misty held her finger to her chest instinctively.  _

 

_ She had let the scalpel slip from her hands on purpose, letting it glide across her fingers, drawing a stream of blood that bled profusely from her open wound. She let it drip onto the bench silently, tears welling up. _

 

_ It hurt. _

 

_ The room was a flurry now, students rushing around to call the school nurse while Mr Killney pressed heavily onto the deep cut. The pain had drained out by now, just a thumping pulsate surrounding her fingers was left. _

 

_ But for a moment, it hurt more than her mother's death. Suddenly she felt a rush of peace within her, like a blanket of calmness had enveloped her. _

 

_ She looked at her bloodied finger. And she had heard about this before. Something about coping… Self harming and…  _

 

_ That was the first time she cut herself. _

 

_ (End of flashback) _

 

“Mist! Act like you're doing something!” Zoe mumbled under her breath when she saw the headmaster approach their bench. 

 

But it was too late.

 

"Miss Day, I am sick of your insolence. I don't care what is the reason you have to skip out on this but you can and you  _ will _ do this." He picked up the sharp blade and forcefully placed it between Misty's long digits. 

 

Cordelia’s unknowing eyes looked up to see what the commotion was about before being greeted by a wild blonde who was on the verge of tears and a very angry headmaster. 

 

"Don't!" she choked out at last, squeezing the lingering tears out of her eyes. Glazed blue eyes looked at the reddish fetal pig on the tray and the blade between her hands. She recalled how every cut felt, every prayer she made under her breath, every aching inch.

 

Her arms wrapped around her raglan shirt as she let out a strangled cry. Zoe’s arm instinctively wrapped around Misty’s body, calming her but it was not enough. 

 

Cordelia moved quickly and she was by the blonde student’s side in no time. “What happened?” The teacher’s voice cracked from both anger and sadness. She glared at the headmaster demanding an explanation as to why her student was reduced to tears. 

 

“Goddamn it, John,” she looked piercingly into the man’s eyes, “This is  _ my _ class.  _ I  _ will do as  _ I  _ see fit.”

 

Misty’s thoughts were moving about her mind like a hurricane was in her. Cordelia could sense Misty slipping off, away into a world that was unreachable, a memory of sorts. Something must have triggered something else. And there was no way to ask what it was. 

 

The taller blonde felt like her lungs were about to catch on fire. There was too little oxygen but her mind kept telling her to exhale heavily. Every muscle in her quivered with a bursts of energies, keeping her shaking, rocking. Back and forth, back and forth. She felt a warm hand on her back that stopped her motion. Her hands moved up to her ears, tingling and cold, trying to block out every sound that was coming her way. 

 

The warm hand moved to cup her cheeks, and she felt Zoe release her from the embrace. Cordelia must’ve said something before moving in front of her. She instinctively pressed her forehead against the teacher’s. Slowly, the teacher’s hands peeled Misty’s ones away from her ears. 

 

“Misty, it's going to be okay. You're OKAY,” she heard Cordelia whisper into her ear. 

 

“Such a wimp!” A boy's voice jeered behind her. Misty felt her tears welling up again. She didn't care if Cordelia saw them because right now, she simply couldn't focus on her breathing. 

 

“Hank Foxx, SHUT UP,” Zoe shot back immediately, silencing him. 

 

Cordelia stood up from her half squat, pulling the taller blonde along with her. 

 

“There will be a make up for this lab. Otherwise, class is dismissed early today.” She announced, a flurry of yes’ erupting after. 

 

She allowed Misty to lean onto Zoe while she went back to the front bench to search for her phone. The teacher had Karen on speed dial but for some reason or another, the redhead did not pick up. 

 

She threw Zoe her car keys, “Get Misty to the car. I'll drive her-”

 

“Can I come too,” The brunette asked gently, sweeping Misty’s hair out of her face. 

 

Cordelia nodded and smiled. 

 

###

 

The teacher tried at calling the redhead for what was the tenth time. And she finally picked up. 

 

“Delia, I'm so sorry. Did something happen?” Karen’s distinct voice floated through the loudspeaker and Cordelia sought to pack her purse. 

 

“Misty had a panic attack, I'm driving her home.” The teacher put across in two quick sentences and a flurry of questions followed. 

 

She could hear Karen’s fluster over the phone, “What? WHEN? HOW? I'm COMING OVER RIGHT NOW.”

 

She explained gently that Misty was triggered by something during lab. She did not know what but the breaking point came when Mr. Whitley made her hold the scalpel in her hands. “She shouted for him to stop and was hyperventilating the next.”

 

And Karen’s reply was a simple question, “Why didn't you stop him?” 

 

“I…” Cordelia stuttered.  _ Why exactly did she not stop him?  _ She knew Misty was in a bad place right now and she knew Mr. Whitley was pushing the student’s limits. What exactly halted her from stopping him from hurting Misty?

 

She shoved a book into her bag. “I'll talk to you about this at home.”

 

###

 

“You both okay in the back,” Cordelia asked, looking into the rear mirror of her car. Karen’s words kept ringing in her head. 

 

Misty had at shoulder on her friend’s, eyes drawn nowhere in particular. “Yea, I think we're okay,” Zoe replied. The wild blonde seemed to have calmed down a lot now. 

 

10 minutes later, the car came to a stop, Misty was jumping out of it and running into the suburban house like her life line was hanging on it. She released her gut into the sparkling silver sink, retching over and over again, until there was nothing left but water mixed with bile was dripping down her open mouth. 

 

"Misty, you okay?" 

 

"SHUT UP!" the clarity seemed to get to the curly blonde as she yelled a the teacher to back off. Recent events floated back into her hazy mind. How could she be so weak? Why did she let Cordelia see that? Why couldn't she just stuff her own shit up for  _ once  _ in her pathetic life. Why? Why? Why? Questions kept haunting her. She didn't know what she was doing anymore.

 

“Get'away from me!” she cried out when Cordelia approached her, taking a few steps back before she was running for the stairs. 

 

###

 

"Misty! Misty..." Karen called out softly to the blonde who was still taking fast strides towards her room. 

 

"Stop it!" the tall blonde snapped back, "Ya’ an' Cordelia are ta' same thin'. Ya' are gonna' care now, an' forget about me! Ya’ only took me in because Cordelia told yer’ ta’! Yer’ are not my mother!" 

 

“Misty... No… I… No I am not like that. And there is not a single truth to that accusation. I…” she took a deep breath, “I took you in not because Cordelia told me to. Sure, I wouldn't have thought about fostering another child if it weren't for her but I took you in because I saw that there was hope in your eyes. I knew that you weren't all the agency was telling me. That you were trouble and only trouble. Before I quit my job to become a full time foster mom to Cordelia, I was a child psychiatrist and I worked primarily with children who had parents in jails. They could be as young as 8 years old. Cordelia knew there would be no better person than me to take care of you. Especially after what has happened to you. So yes, yes you have Cordelia to thank for this but if you were any other child in any other circumstance, I wouldn't have taken you in. I  _ chose _ you. So please show me that you  _ can  _ be helped. Because I want to do this so badly. And it's not for me. It's for you.”

 

She took a deep breath. 

 

“When Cordelia came to me, she was exactly like you. Confused, frightened. She asked me this question: Will you be my mother now?” Karen’s hand reached up to wipe a stray tear from her foster daughter’s face, “And I want to tell you what I said to her: Yes I will be your mother. But I… I will never… I  _ can never _ replace your birth mother. Because no matter what, your mother was the one who birthed you and she was your everything for many years. I couldn't possibly… But I will be your other mother if you'd like. You don't have to want that. It's your choice and only you can decide on that. So I just… I want to assure you that I'll never be able to replace your mother’s place because that… that bond… it's special. And I respect that. But please don't shut me out either. I love you as much as I would my own. And I just… I’ve come to love you so very much, Misty.”

 

Misty seemed to be in deep thought. There was nothing else to say. Whatever Karen had said pinpointed to whatever she was feeling. Fear was her main enemy, two black slits staring at her. Fear of losing, to be specific. She was afraid if she let Karen in, her mother would disappear further into the ground… Further and further until one day, she would completely forget her. And there would be no one to remind her.

 

There was a soft knock on the door.

 

"Come in," Karen said after a beat.

 

The door creaked open to reveal a disheveled Cordelia who had also been ripped out by her thoughts. "Misty, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologised profusely. Right now, there were so many things to be sorry for she couldn't even keep track of it anymore. 

 

Misty ran forth and hugged Cordelia instead, her head hitting Cordelia in the chest. "I'mma… I can't remember her voice anymore," she burst out in tears. "I can't re'ember ma' Ma's voice anymore..." 

 

Cordelia tooked a ragged breath, "Your Ma… She probably had the sweetest voice," she started gently, stroking Misty's hair.

 

"It was probably like the oceans. The coarse crashing of waves on the beach to the depth of the deepest trenches. It probably had a southern twang to it. And it was probably very much like yours," she explained softly.

 

"Will I eva' stop missin' her?" Blue eyes looked up, searching deeply into brown ones for an answer.

 

Cordelia sighed. "A parent will always be part of you no matter where they are now. You'd think after awhile, the pain of losing one goes away. It does, but just so ever slightly. There'll still be a part of you missing. Karen and Bart… They're here, trying to fill the void that's left behind. It'll never be whole, I'll tell you that first. But you'll learn that being loved makes the road much less lonely to walk in and the more people you let in, the happier you will be."

 

She pulled the taller blonde out of her chest to look into her eyes.

 

"And we all want you to be happy, we all do. And if me staying away from you makes you happy, then… I'd gladly leave..." she looked up and blinked tears.

 

"No, stay," Misty pulled the shorter blonde into a tight hug. 

 

"I want ya' ta', stay..." she repeated softly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAYY! So they finally made up.... about time... But be assured that this will NOT be the last of the drama... Hm........
> 
> Note: 08/26/17  
> Hello, fellow readers. This story will be on hold for an indefinite period of time until I find my spark with it again. As a writer, I always try my best to provide all of my readers with enjoyable content. That being said, although I already know where I want this story to go, I feel that the content I am currently writing does not do justice to this story and its characters. Therefore, I seek your understanding and I hope you'll stay around to see the end to this particular foxxay. I apologize once again. Sorry!! ):


	14. NOT A CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, fellow readers. This story will be on hold for an indefinite period of time until I find my spark with it again. As a writer, I always try my best to provide all of my readers with enjoyable content. That being said, although I already know where I want this story to go, I feel that the content I am currently writing does not do justice to this story and its characters. Therefore, I seek your understanding and I hope you'll stay around to see the end to this particular foxxay. I'm truly sorry for this story hiatus. Sorry!! ):

##########


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